Kitten's Claws
by RubyFlash321
Summary: My first story, please be kind. Robin/OC. What happens when Bruce Wayne adopts a daughter? Rachel O'Connor is the former protégée of Catwoman. Now, after running away, she works for Batman. How will The Team react? How will Robin react? *Rating may change* *ON HIATUS*
1. Prologue

**So, this is my first story. Please be kind. If you need a visual to imagine my OC's outfit, go to and my username on there is Monkeygal321. Please enjoy this story.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice, its characters, locations, or plot lines. I just thought, since there are almost NO Robin-and-OC-paired fanfictions, that I should write one. I only own my OC, her back-story (which you're about to hear), and her part in the plot of this fanfic.**

A 7-year-old Rachel O'Connor woke up to the smell of smoke. _Something's burning_, she thought. After a few moments, she saw the flames around her. Following what her parents had told her when she was 5; she grabbed her "emergency bag" and ran out of the burning house and into the woods surrounding it. There were people in her front yard, people she didn't recognize. They didn't seem very nice.

She had always loved to run. Running and Gymnastics were her two favorite sports. She always got the blue ribbon in her age class. She even got blue ribbons when she competed against older girls.

She stopped running when she got to her family's arranged "emergency meeting" place, her favorite ice cream shop downtown. The shop was still open, so she decided to go in, not caring that she was still in her pajamas. After ordering her favorite sundae with the money she had saved up in her "emergency fund" (a piggy bank in her emergency bag), she waited. She waited for her parents to come and pick her up. She waited for a whole week, sleeping in the ice cream shop (Her family was a valued group of customers.), and eating from the food she had in her emergency bag. She only assumed the worst when they didn't meet her there. Either her parents forgot her, died in the fire, or were killed.

Rachel O'Connor became an orphan at the age of 7. She was smarter than the average 7-year-old; quicker and fitter, too. She ran to Gotham Orphanage. She lived there for a week before running away and living in the streets.

People wondered. There was a little girl living in the streets, of course they wondered. Not only that, but this little girl was smart enough to go to high school. But how would she afford it? She still had a good chunk of cash in her emergency bag, but she told her self, "That's for food and going to the Laundromat."

When she started to run low on funds, she sat outside a building, singing her sorrows away. Once, when she was 8 years old, someone put down a twenty dollar bill in front of her, and she realized what she had to do to get money. She sang for people. If there was a traffic jam, she would run between the cars, singing for people. At the end of one week, she had more money than she had in her emergency bag, which was quite a lot.

She took this new amount of cash and bought, not food, but notebooks and art supplies. She wrote stories and songs. She drew landscapes and abstract things and more you'd ever see in an art gallery. Did she keep these? No, she sold them to people. She sold them to people who wanted a new book to read or a new piece of art in their home.

Once, a man even came up to her and asked her if he could publish the story she sold him. She replied, "If you give at least 10% of the profits each month and partial credit or a dedication to the person who actually wrote the story, you may." On the last day of every month, the man found her and gave her a chunk of money.

When she was nine, she signed up for government food stamps. After that, she moved her location each week so Child Services wouldn't find her. She couldn't go back to orphanage. She just couldn't. It was horrible there.

The next year, exactly three years after her house burned down, someone found her. That someone was Catwoman. "I'm here to help you," she had said. She had been dressed in her full catsuit.

"What are you gonna do? Are you here to take me back to the orphanage? Why are you dressed like that?" Rachel certainly had asked a lot of questions. When Catwoman answered all of them, Rachel said yes. She packed what little belongings she had and went with Catwoman to her new home.

Every day was spent training. She started running again. She used almost everything she could find as gymnastics equipment. She became better than she was before.

Catwoman was her mother and her mentor. She took Rachel shopping. She introduced her to puberty (Aah, that awkward time.). She homeschooled her. She trained her. She turned her into a protégée. Rachel O'Connor became Kitten.

At night, they roamed to city, looking for trouble to cause. Rachel knew it was wrong, but didn't say anything. Catwoman had never hurt her before, so why prompt her to? Rachel was happy, but not really.

When she was 13, she packed her stuff and ran away. She seemed to do that a lot. Thankfully, Catwoman understood. She didn't chase after Rachel; she didn't even reveal who Rachel really was.

Rachel went back to her life on the streets for two months before someone found her again. As she walked up to a car during a traffic jam, hoping to earn some money, the window rolled down, revealing Bruce Wayne. She stopped dead in her tracks. He motioned for her to come closer. He asked her some questions and she asked some in return. They finally came to an agreement.

Bruce Wayne adopted a daughter that day. And Batman adopted a new protégée.


	2. Richard Meets Rachel

**Sorry for the confusion with my Author's Note from the first chapter. Apparently, you can't use website names or something let's try saying: deviantART (.com/). That's where Kitten's outfits can be found.**

"Richard! Wake up! There's someone I want you to meet!" Bruce Wayne called from the library. Dick Grayson woke up groggily. _Probably another college headmaster or something_, he thought. "Hurry up!"

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Getting dressed in less than a minute, Dick was already racing down the stairs so as to not have to hear his adoptive father shout at him to move faster. He forgot to put on his sunglasses he always wears, so his baby blues shone. When he got to the library, he stopped dead in his tracks. Standing in front of him was no college professor.

Standing next to Bruce was a girl, about his age, maybe a bit younger. She had light brown, naturally wavy hair, and sparkling blue eyes. She wore a red tube top, showing her stomach, upon which the word "SEXY" was tattooed. Whether it was permanent or not, Dick didn't know. She also had a black leather mini-skirt with red suspenders, a red, studded belt, red and black striped thigh-high socks with matching fingerless, arm-length gloves, black high tops, and black headphones around her neck, and a black creature-shaped beanie that was made to look like it was dripping blood and eating her head.

He immediately wondered what her secrets were, what her story was, and why she was in his house.

"This is Rachel. I'm _adopting_ her," Bruce explained. "Rachel, this is my adopted son, Richard." As he told him where he found her, Dick focused his gaze on the girl. If it weren't for the stereotypical "emo" getup, he would've considered her beautiful. Her blue eyes seemed to swim with ghosts of the past and a story that he couldn't even imagine. And they were focused on him.

He was so distracted trying to figure her out that he didn't notice her walking towards him until her hand was in front of him, offering a smile and a friendly handshake. Only in that moment did he realize that he forgot his sunglasses. His face paled.

She noticed this and pulled him close to whisper in his ear, "Don't worry. You're secrets safe with me, _Robin_." She pulled away with a smirk, but Dick paled even more. "What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost." Her voice was so innocent; she could've committed _murder_ and gotten away with it.

"Please show Rachel to her room, Richard. It's the one right across the hall from yours," Bruce instructed. Rachel grabbed what few bags she had and followed her new adopted sibling. She followed the raven-haired boy until they reached a corridor with doors on each side and a set of double doors at the end.

"That's Bruce's room at the end there," Dick explained. "My room is the first door on the left. Yours is the first on the right." He disappeared into his room, leaving her in the hallway. She went into her room to find a horrid sight.

**Mwahahahahahaha! Cliffhangers! I love them! Let me know what you thought. As I've said before this is my first story. I got a review on my first chapter saying she was too Mary-Sueish. Sure she's pretty smart, but in the years she spent as a hobo, she didn't learn anything new! Think before you type, people.**


	3. Supplies

**Thank you to everyone who likes my story. I honestly don't think that I'm really THAT good. So, thank you for making me feel like I'm really good at writing. I mostly write poetry and stuff, soooo…. Yeah, on with the story.**

When we last saw our heroine:

_She went into her room to find a horrid sight._

Rachel screamed. Who would ever think of painting the walls of a room plain white? Yes, that is the "horrible" sight that Rachel found. Richard came running into the room.

"What's wrong? What happened? Are you okay?" The questions came like rapid-fire. Rachel could barely keep up.

"Just get Alfred in here. Please," she said in a strained, tense voice. Just then, Bruce ran in with Alfred following.

"What happened?" Bruce asked. "Is everything okay?"

"Can we please redecorate my room? I hate the color white," Rachel said. As soon as Bruce said yes, Rachel opened up one of her sketchbooks and immediately began planning. "You boys can go. I'll let you know when I'm done with my plans." They slowly backed out of the room, not wanting Rachel to scream again.

Once they were gone, Rachel turned to face her room. "What are we gonna do with you?" she asked to herself. "I'll start with the color of the walls. White has got to go." She called for Bruce.

"Yes, Rachel?" he asked, sticking his head in the doorway.

"I need a computer or a laptop or something," she replied. "And some _accessories_."

"Like what?" What kind of accessories could a computer need?

"Well, I need the newest Microsoft Office Package, a good photo-editing software, some good art software, a wireless tablet, a webcam, a large flash drive, and some other things I know I'm forgetting. I'll let you know when I think of them."

"Alright, Rachel," Bruce said.

"Please, don't call me Rachel in public. Only call me that in private. In public, I want to be Olivia Smith. I want my real name to be a secret. Also, I take it I'll have to start goin to school."

"Yes."

"Then, I'll be Olivia there, too. But, for the record, Olivia doesn't exist. If they look her up online, I'm not going to come up."

"I get it, Ra- _Olivia_."

"Tell Richard and Alfred, as well, will you?"

"No problem." And with that, Bruce left her to her thoughts.

The next day, Alfred knocked on her door. When she opened her door, he handed her a sleek, black laptop. "Everything you asked for is installed, and here is a digital camera, a flash drive, a cell phone, and Master Bruce got you an iPod Touch, an iPad, a regular computer, and a list of furniture he figured you might forget for your room." Wow. Bruce had thought of everything.

"Thanks, Alfred."

"You're welcome, Miss Rachel." As he left, she set everything down on the bed she had at the time. She looked over the list of furniture and quickly modified her sketches to accommodate the stuff she forgot. _It's time to show them my plans for my new room_, she thought. She walked out the door holding color swatches, her sketches for each wall of her room (plus the walk-in closet), a list of every thing she'd need for it all to happen, etc.

She stood outside Bruce's study door, taking deep breaths to calm her nerves. When she was ready, she pushed open the door and strode in, her head high.

**There'll be a description of the room in another chapter. Sorry for the short ones, BTW. Thanks for all the reviews and such. You guys are great. Keep the reviews coming. She'll join The Team at some point. Maybe next chapter.**


	4. A New Room and a New School

**I bet y'all are wondering how she knows that Dick is Robin. All will be explained in time, my pets. I love you, guys. Enjoy the story.**

As she walked in, Bruce lifted his head from the paperwork he was completing. "Hello, Rachel. Are you finished with your room designs? I hope I can do whatever possible to make you feel comfortable here. Please, have a seat."

"I'd rather stand, if that's okay. And yes, I finished my plans. Thank you for taking me in. And also, thank you for the…_supplies_," she said.

"It's really no problem, Rachel. Can I get you anything before you tell me your plans?"

"Actually, yes, you can. Would you please get me a bottle of water and possibly an easel-type thing for me to use to present my designs?" They spoke in very business-like tones, as if they were talking about Wayne Tech, or something.

It took almost a full day to find everything Rachel wanted. They needed a lot of furniture, paint, measuring tapes, clothes, etc. The room originally was set up as such: a square, 15' by 15' room with white walls, a door in the corner of the room leading to the main hallway with all the other bedrooms, a bay window (with curtains and seating) on the opposite wall, a walk-in closet (the door being in the opposite corner as the main room door), a queen bed with white sheets and such, and a floor lamp for a light. Overall, the original room was very boring and very un-Rachel-ish.

After they were done, the room was….well, it's better to describe it. The curtains and seating for the bay window were now black. The door, which had been white with a gold knob, was now black with a silver knob. The closet door was the same way. The walls had all been white. Now, the wall with the door was red, the wall with the bay window and the wall with the walk-in closet were black, and the last wall was painted with chalkboard paint, so it was a gray-green color. The ceiling was painted dark gray and the molding was painted dark purple. The carpet was blood-red.

Rachel's bed was made with a metal frame and was fitted with black, purple, and red sheets. It was in the corner next to the door, away from the bay window. Her desk was black with metal framework. It was pushed up against the chalkboard wall. Her dresser was at the end of the walk-in closet. Her dark wood bookcase was pushed against the wall between her bay window and the walk-in closet. Frames of her artwork and lots of band posters adorned the walls. Her closet and dresser were fully stocked with all the clothes she ever wanted and more. It was perfect.

The next day, Monday, Bruce Wayne personally enrolled her in Gotham Academy. She shared every class with Dick. The two 13-year-olds quickly became friends and rivals at the same time. They were always together (considering they were the only 13-year-olds at the prestigious school) and always competing against one another. There were several instances where they worked together, though. It was those times where they scored their highest grades. Their friendship however could not prepare Dick for what Rachel would be like as a teammate.

Among their friends and other people, Rachel O'Connor, or as people knew her, Olivia Smith, was very shy and artistic, but she had her humorous moments. They came, as Dick said, "only once a week," though. Of course, as "Olivia" blushed, everyone laughed. _Sure, it was at my expense, but Dick's joke was all in good fun; I don't mind_, Rachel thought.

It was two weeks before Rachel joined The Team. These two weeks were spent continuously training to make herself into the best athlete and teammate Rachel could be. She joined Cross Country and Gymnastics. She was offered a coveted position on the cheer squad, but she had already promised herself she would never cross that bridge. It was after those two weeks that Rachel went up to Bruce and said the two words she really meant: "I'm ready."

**Theme for next chapter: Rachel/Olivia/Kitten meets The Team. Mwahahahahahaha.**


	5. Kitten Meets The Team

**So, in this chapter, Rachel meets The Team. The masks I show for her outfits on deviantART are different than what I describe here, and I realize this, so please, don't point it out if you check out her many outfits.**

"Recognized: Batman-02. Recognized: Robin-B01. Recognized: Kitten-B08."

It was that last one that made the other Team members look up. They looked up just in time to see Rachel walking through the transporter with her full Kitten outfit on. She wore a black, shredded camisole, a black, ninja-like bodysuit that came with gloves, a black skirt with red lace and detailing, red and black striped arm-warmers, a black, studded belt, tall, black combat boots with red designs, an opaque domino-colored mask like Robin's, and black cat ears and tail. She seemed broody and quiet, like Conner. _That_ impression would soon change.

Sure, she was quiet, but only as Olivia. She had multiple personalities for her multiple identities. Olivia was quiet and friendly, Rachel was kinda demanding, and Kitten was bitchy, clever, and just as witty as Wally and Robin combined.

Upon seeing the new "babe in the hizz-ouse", Wally walked right up to the new heroine and said, in his most charming and seductive voice, "Hey there." She looked at him, scoffed and turned to Batman, about to say something, but Wally continued. "The name's Kid Flash. They (He pointed to the other Team members.) call me Wally, but you, you can call me anytime." After his lame attempt at a pickup line, Kitten turned to him and smiled. Robin, off to the side, smirked, knowing where this was headed. As Wally reached out to cup her cheek in his hand, Kitten's smile dropped, she grabbed his hand with both of hers, and she flipped him. He landed on the ground on his back with a thud. "Ouch. That kinda hurt," the speedster groaned.

"No." And that was all Kitten needed to say to send him up and running to cower behind Artemis. The other Team members looked at her with disbelief. She looked at them and shrugged. "What? It's called martial arts. When you're a girl who grew up on the streets, you learn to defend yourself, even if it means talking to fellow hobos." At that point, she heard Robin chuckle. Just as she turned to glare at him, Batman spoke.

"Everyone, this is Kitten. She will be joining you on your missions. She is just as young as Robin, so please be kind. Otherwise, you may end up getting hurt like Kid Flash." He suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind the young redhead, and spoke quickly and quietly in his ear. "Don't touch my daughter."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. She's your daughter?" Wally couldn't believe his ears. How long had Bats had a daughter? And a mighty fine one at that.

"Adoptive, like Robin." With this, Kitten and Robin nodded and looked at each other, almost knowing exactly what the other was thinking.

"I've spent the past two weeks training for this," Kitten told the group. "During that time, Robin taught me some very useful fighting techniques. I can almost beat him, too." With that last remark, she smirked.

Robin decided to add, "The key word is almost."

"You, hush."

"Make me."

"Do you really wanna get into this with me?"

"As a matter of fact, I do."

"Be careful what you wish for, birdbrain. You just might get it."

"Go ahead, Kitty. Attack me. Show our teammates exactly what you can do."

Kitten was about to respond, but Batman spoke up. "Not here. If you're going to fight, do so in the training room."

"Gladly," Kitten spat. "But there's one small problem. I'm new, so I don't know where anything is."

Wally stepped up, eager to redeem himself. "Right this way, madam. After you're done, maybe I-we can give you a tour of the place."

Kitten decided to play along, just to see how much a diva she could be, how far Wally would go to please her before he snapped. "That would be lovely, Wally. Thank you. I think we got off on the wrong foot. I'm Kitten, but you can call me Kit. I don't like to give my real name away, just in case." Wally held out his arm for her to take. She looped her arm through his, and he led her off, towards the training room.

As they walked, Kitten could practically feel the waves of jealousy and anger coming off of Robin, even if he didn't show it. The only other emotion she knew the others were feeling was confusion. She smirked to herself.

**Yeah, I know I didn't really introduce her to Conner, Megan, Artemis, or Kaldur. I will. I promise. Just, gimme some time. Most of my day is consumed by classes, as I'm only in 8th grade. However, Thanksgiving Break is coming up. That means I have five days to update the story. Keep the reviews and ideas coming, people. The more good ideas I get, the better of a story I can make this. The better of a story it is, the more people read it. The more people read it, the more ideas they give me. It's a cycle.**


	6. Turth or Dare

**I just need to clarify some things real quick. She never actually went to high school until she was 13. She was just smart. Just like - and I point this out for, like, the billionth time - Robin. Also, with the writing and drawing when she was 8, it was all opinion-based. I never actually said she was good enough to get a story published, people just thought she was. Also, someone told me that the youngest person to publish his own (good) novel was Christopher Paolini, but no, that's not true. Nancy Yi Fan was 12 when she sold her story, SwordBird, to HarperCollins. I've read it. It's pretty good. She even wrote a prequel called Sword Quest. Besides, most people like the story, and I'm only 13, so suck it! Now, on with the story!**

**Also, depending on where they are, I'll call Rachel different names. If she's at Wayne Manor with just Bruce, Richard, and Alfred, she's Rachel. If she's in public, in the headlines, or there's someone at the Manor, she's Olivia. When she's with The Team, she's Kitten, Kit, or Kitty.**

**BTW, and I haven't done this in a while, I don't own Young Justice. I only own the OCs and part of the plot. Soon, it'll be on track with the series. I promise.**

"So, Kit, where are you from?" Wally asked as they walked to the training room. "I, myself, am from Central City, Missouri."

"Sorry. I don't really give away too much personal information. I've already told you that I grew up on the streets, though, so why not? I live with Robin; you should see his room." She added that last part with a smile. She felt somewhat guilty about leading Wally on, but it was obvious he liked Miss Martian. He would move on. _Maybe we could still be friends_, Kitten thought as she walked beside the speedster.

Once they got to the training room, Kitten walked to middle of the ring, Robin and Batman following. Batman would be the referee for the fight. The teens faced each other as their teammates spread out around the room to watch.

"Are you ready to lose, birdbrain?"

"You'd better watch that tail. Someone might step on it," he replied with a smirk.

Batman laid out the rules, so no one would get seriously injured. "I want a nice, clean fight. No weapons, no maiming, no killing, no cheap shots, no assistance, and no using other teammates as weapons." His adoptive children nodded their heads and got into fighting stances. "Ready. Fight!" With that, Batman stepped out of the ring to give the fighters some space.

They waited, just circling each other, looking for openings and weaknesses. They had done this in their home training sessions, and had perfected most of their flaws by now. But not all of them. Finally, Kitten saw his flaw: his footing. As he stepped to continue circling, he would cross one foot in front of the other. As she stepped she brought her feet together and stepped again with the first foot.

She ran towards him as he was taking another crossing step. She looked as if she was going to punch him. Robin prepared to block, not changing his footing in the slightest. _What a fool_, Kitten thought. A t the last moment, however, she jumped, somersaulted over his head, and landed behind him. Robin quickly used his crossed legs to pivot around, but Kitten was already sweep-kicking his legs out from under him. He tried to jump, but when your legs are crossed, it's a bit difficult to do. As quickly as he landed on the ground, he was right back up again, but Kitten had disappeared. She tapped on his shoulder, and as he was turning around, she did two back walkovers away from the Boy Wonder. They continued a game of cat and mouse, each landing a few good hits, but neither really winning, until Robin started getting angry.

The other Team members stared at the pair in awe. They seemed so evenly matched; it was amazing Kitten was slightly winning. It wouldn't be long before she won the whole thing. It was easy to see why, though. With each failed attempt at an attack, Robin would get just a bit more frustrated, while Kitten kept totally calmed as she dodged and blocked Robin's hits and kicks. In fact, she easily matched them, succeeding in pushing Robin back towards the edges of the ring.

At one point, Robin went in to punch Kitten, but before the blow landed, she quickly caught his wrist, and stepped behind him, successfully pinning his arm behind his back. As he struggled to get out her hold, she kicked his back and let his arm go. He stumbled forward, and Kitten saw her chance to end the fight in her favor. She launched herself into the air and tucked her lower legs under her. Just as Robin turned around, she landed on him, pinning his shoulders down with her knees. She aimed a punch at his neck, stopping just before she really hurt him. It was over. She had won.

Everyone, including Batman and Robin stared at her in shock. She had just defeated the Boy Wonder in his best fields – hand-to-hand combat and gymnastics. Even she couldn't believe herself. She got up off of Robin and helped him up. He stepped away from her, smiled, and started clapping for her. The others, excluding Batman, soon joined in; Batman just smiled. Soon, they were surrounding her, congratulating her, welcoming her to The Team, patting her on the back, etc. And pretty soon, she began to smile, herself.

As the others were congratulating her, however, she noticed Robin slip away from the group. _He seems pretty upset_, Kitten thought. _Maybe I should go talk to him._ She excused herself from the group and quickly caught up with her adoptive brother. "Hey, Rob. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He seemed pretty angry.

"No, you're not. If you were fine, you wouldn't be mad at me. Why are you mad?"

"I'm not mad. I'm just thinking. I'm thinking of how I can beat you next time," he replied with a small smile. She smiled back and gave him a hug.

"I don't like when you're mad at me. You're really the only person I know here. I don't wanna lose you. Not yet, anyways." He returned the hug, his smile growing wider. "Besides, even as we were fighting, I noticed flaws in both of our attacks. Don't worry."

"Yeah, I noticed them, too. More so mine than yours, though."

"Same for me. I noticed my own flaws more than I noticed yours. I did, however notice a huge, main flaw for you."

"Which was…?" Robin prompted for her to tell him.

By this time, the group had caught up with them. Kitten responded, "You need to learn to not get so frustrated with yourself when something doesn't go the way you want it to." With that, she walked away to go explore the Cave.

Someone caught up to her. She looked over and to her surprise it was Superboy, or Conner as the others called him. "Hello." His voice was calm. "I never got to really introduce myself. I don't really have an Earth name, but everyone calls me Superboy." She could tell, even from his calm voice, that he was still struggling with himself.

"I've heard a lot about you from Robin." She had heard that he was an experiment from Cadmus Labs, that he was still new to everything in Earth, that he had small anger management issues, and that Superman wouldn't take responsibility of him. "I'm sorry. To have someone, let alone the person you were cloned from, not accept you, but have to see that person all the time, I wouldn't wish on anyone, especially not you. You seem very nice, even if you don't always show your true emotions. I can help you with that if you want." She noticed a small tear run down his cheek from all the pent up emotions run down his cheek.

"I'd like that. Thank you." He smiled at her. She smiled back. But then, a troubled look appeared on his face. "Would it be okay if I brought M'Gann along? I just kinda need her there sometimes. She helps keep me calm if I don't understand something and get frustrated." He seemed embarrassed by asking this.

"That would be great. Let's head back to the group. You could talk to M'Gann, and I need to ask Artemis something." They walked back towards the group of teens. Wally was talking excitedly about something. Everyone but Robin seemed to be agreeing with him "Whoa, there, Wally. What's got you so excited?" Kitten asked putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I just had the best idea ever," Wally told her, a mischievous smile on his face. "We should play Truth or Dare to, you know, welcome you to The Team." Robin looked like he wanted no part of the game.

'I don't know, Wally," Kitten said. "I think some people would be uncomfortable playing Truth or Dare." She looked right at Robin as she said this, a pleading look on both of their faces. Even after a short amount of time, Kitten knew the kinds of things Wally was capable of asking and doing.

Wally noticed their silent communication and quickly added, "Well, of course, we would set a couple ground rules. For example, we don't have to answer questions about our past or our secret identities if you'd like. Also, if you just don't want to do the dare, you can say 'Double Dare' and we'll give you a new one." Everyone, including Robin and Kitten seemed pleased with these rules. Wally noticed that Batman was long gone by now. "I have another idea, if you want to hear it. (Everyone nodded.) Let's turn it into a drinking game. If you don't do the dare, don't tell the whole truth, don't answer the question at all, or ask for a Double Dare, you have to take a shot." Everyone glanced around to each other, but eventually nodded.

"One problem though, dork," Artemis spoke up. "Where are we gonna get the drinks?" Wally looked over to her, grinning.

"You leave that to me, Arty." With that he sped off to God knows where. They decided to get ready while he was gone. They sat on the floor, Indian-style, in a circle while they waited. Kitten sat with Superboy to her left and Robin to her right. M'Gann sat on the other side of Superboy, then Aqualad, and finally Artemis, leaving a space between Robin and Artemis for Kid Flash. When Kid Flash came back, he had a few bottles of beer and shot-glasses in his hands. He sat down in his spot and passed the glasses around to everybody. Then he went around, filling up everyone's glass with beer.

"Alright everybody. Who's ready to play some Truth or Dare? Because it's Friday, and none of us have school tomorrow, I've had it approved by the Justice League for us to sleep here tonight. I told them that it was so we could get Kitten here used to the Cave and everything, which is partially true. The real reason is because some of us might be getting sloppy drunk from taking one too many shots." He smirked with this last comment. "Now everybody has to take a shot at the start because some of us will answer everything and do anything we're asked. Also, if you take a Double Dare, you may choose to do the original dare if the second is just as, if not, worse." Everyone agreed.

"Let's get this party started," Kitten commented as she tipped back her glass.

An hour later, most of The Team was pretty tipsy, with the exception of Wally, considering he answered every question and did every dare. Kitten was tipsy from not answering questions and constantly asking for Double Dares. She was giggling and leaning on Robin for support, who, somehow, after taking just as many shots, was as sober as Wally. M'Gann had ended up in Superboy's lap after a dare from Wally for them to kiss. Robin had once tried to dare Artemis to kiss Wally, but she opted for a Double Dare, which was giving any boy from the group a lap dance. Robin ended up getting slapped across the face, and Artemis ended up kissing Wally. They had been holding hands ever since.

Soon, it was Kitten's turn again, and Wally asked, "Truth or Dare, Kit?"

She replied with a slight slur to her words, "I want a dare, Wally."

"I dare you take off your mask in front of everyone so we can see your eyes."

"Aw, no way am I doing that. Gimme a Double Dare," she said, taking another shot.

Wally gave a mischievous smirk. "I dare you to kiss Robin." Everyone figured she would take off her mask instead, but to their surprise, she kneeled down in front of her adoptive brother and kissed him soundly on the lips. To their added surprise, including the surprise of Kitten, Robin kissed back. He put his hands on her hips and pulled her into his lap. Pretty soon, they were full on making out. Everyone smiled at the two. It was agreed upon during their battle that they would try to get them together. Wally had made a bet that if he could get them together by the end of the night, they would all play Truth or Dare again every Friday.

After about two minutes of lip-locking, Wally cleared his throat and the two broke the kiss, slightly flushed from embarrassment. It was then that Kitten realized that she was sitting in Robin's lap with her arms around his neck. She flushed even darker and looked away. Robin noticed and leaned in to whisper something in her ear.

"Don't worry, Kit. You weren't that bad of a kisser. In fact, that was pretty good for my first kiss." She quickly turned around to look at the Boy Wonder. _That was his first kiss? He seems so experienced. He has to be lying_, she thought.

She leaned in and whispered back, "That was my first kiss, too." His arms, which were around her waist as she sat on his lap, tightened around her, pulling her closer to him. She sat up and tried to move back to her seat, but Robin's arms wouldn't let her go. She stayed in his lap, her head leaning against his shoulder, as the game continued.

It was midnight when the game ended. Kitten had fallen asleep a little while earlier, so Robin carried her, bridal-style, to an empty room. He laid her on the bed and lifted the mask from her sleeping face. He removed his own mask and lay next to her. She curled into his side, and he cuddled up with her. He fell into a deep sleep, dreaming of black cats and kisses.

**What did you think? I wanted them to couple up real soon, and I didn't want them to be awkward about it. I'm not sure if I should write another Truth or Dare scene, considering Kitten and Robin were never in on the bet.**

**This was, by far, the longest chapter. I usually write these things in Word, and this chapter took up a little over five pages. It took about three days to write. I hope you're happy.**

**I know. The ending was a little cheesy. But still, it was pretty sweet. I'm gonna let you know a small secret: Robin has to be there with Kitten. Otherwise, she has nightmares. There will be one chapter that he's not there for her, soooo… yeah. Reviews are like air for stories. They need them to survive. Please review!**


	7. A Hangover and an Explanation

**Someone commented on the last story (anonymously, I might add) that in every fanfic where Robin gets beat, it's because he gets frustrated and Batman would've taught him not to get frustrated and stuff. I will say that is a very good point. So I made a small list of reasons as to why he would get frustrated: he was beaten by a girl, he was beaten in front of his closest friends AND his mentor/father, aforementioned girl didn't have nearly as much experience as he did, and she had never been able to beat him before. If you still have a problem, then I'm sorry. Also, in the eighth episode, Downtime, Robin gets somewhat jealous of Aqualad when Batman wants to speak to him alone instead of with Robin.**

**After these few chapters, I'm going to insert Kitten into the plotline of the TV show, starting with Downtime. I will go with the plot of the episodes from there, so you'll just have to wait and see what happens to our young heroine. There will be some chapters that are pure fluff or aren't part of the plotline at all, but I just wanted to get out of my system.**

**Yes, I realize that Wally and Artemis are not a couple, but there is evidence supporting the theory that it'll happen eventually. All that will lead up to when they do officially become a couple, if it ever happens. Also, I realize that Megan and Conner become a couple during the episode, Terrors. Maybe they were too tipsy to remember the details of the night before. Also, I realize that Superboy doesn't get the name Conner until the episode Targets. I will eventually (keyword there) fix these. Be patient.**

**I got a review from Sunnydayz56 about having Batman know they were drinking. I'm taking the idea into consideration, so, like I've said, you'll just have to wait and see what happens.**

**Anyway, let's get on with the story**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice, its characters, etc. I only own any OCs and their part in the plotline of the series.**

Kitten woke up with a groan. _Oh great, a hangover_, she thought. She sat up and looked at Robin still curled up peacefully on the bed. She smiled and noticed her mask on the bedside table as well as the fact that they were still in their Team costumes. After making sure the door was locked, she woke up Robin. She looked out for her brother; she didn't want anyone to know who he was. She handed him his mask and they stepped outside the room. Suddenly, Kitten realized something. "Hey, Rob. I never got my tour."

"Well, then," he started, putting his arm around her shoulders. "We'll just have to fix that, now won't we? But first, do you wanna head back to Gotham to change. I don't wanna wear the same clothes two days in a row."

"You read my mind." After arriving back at Wayne Manor, they went to their rooms to change. Rachel knocked on Dick's door and told him, "I'm going to grab a quick shower. Don't leave without me." She walked down the hall to the bathroom with her clothes in hand. She turned the water on and stepped under, relaxing almost immediately under the warm water.

After a quick shower, she turned the water off; blow dried her hair, and put on an outfit looking the exact same way she did when she first met Dick. The only difference was that now, she was wearing opaque, black glasses so The Team wouldn't see her eyes. Once the two teens were ready, they linked hands and stepped back through the Zeta Tubes, quickly traveling back to Mount Justice. As soon as they stepped out of the Zeta Tubes, Kitten grasped the side her head and groaned in pain. "Is everything okay, Kit?" Robin seemed generally concerned.

"I'm fine. It's just a slight hangover from last night." She then remembered what had happened last night and looked away, blushing. Unfortunately, thinking about what had happened only worsened her headache. "Where's the kitchen?" she asked. Robin led the way, and they found Miss Martian standing there in her civilian clothes with the same problem as Kitten. "When I see Wally, remind me to punch him." Robin nodded with a smirk and sat down as Kitten made her way to the fridge. She opened the refrigerator and pulled out two bottles of Gatorade. She waked up to M'Gann and handed her a bottle, saying, "Here's a bottle of Gatorade. You have what's called a hangover. Gatorade helps to get rid of it." Kitten sat down next to Robin and thirstily gulped down half of the bottle, immediately feeling better. Apparently, everyone in The Team had a hangover except for Robin and Wally. With her hangover already gone, Kitten walked right up to Wally as soon as she saw him and punched him across the face. She then walked back to the fridge to get Gatorade for Aqualad, Artemis, and Superboy. Once se explained the situation to Superboy, he greedily took a bottle and downed most of it before Kitten even blinked. She gave the other bottles to Artemis and Kaldur and grabbed a second for Superboy.

Soon, everyone was fine. Wally however was holding an ice pack against his cheek and arguing with Artemis. Artemis was claiming that she was tipsy last night and that kissing him was a mistake. After a few minutes of arguing, Artemis stormed off. Everyone looked at Superboy and M'Gann. Finally, Kitten spoke up. "Do you two remember what happened between you guys last night?" They both shook their heads with confused expressions on their faces. "Okay. Nobody tell them. Let's see if they can figure it out for themselves. I, myself, need to go ask Artemis something. Superboy now would be a good time to ask M'Gann about…well, you know. Robin, will you help me find her? I still need that tour, and Wally looks like he needs some time alone." With that, they left to go find Artemis. They didn't get very far, though. As soon as the others were out of sight, Robin stopped her. "What do you need, Rob?"

"You never told me how you knew who I was when we first met."

"I don't want anyone overhearing. Are there any soundproof spots here?"

"Follow me." He led her to a small room. He flicked on the lights and locked the door. They were in a bedroom. "This is one of the more soundproof rooms. It's not totally soundproof, but if someone were to walk by, they shouldn't be able to hear what we're talking about." She nodded and sat down on the bed, Robin sitting next to her. "So, how did you know?"

"I suppose it's time you heard my full background," she took a deep breath before continuing. "I was seven years old. I woke up in the middle of the night one night to see flames around my room. I was freaking out on the inside, but I calmly grabbed my emergency bag – a bag with a couple of clothes, a sleeping bag, a blanket, a pillow, some food, and a wad of cash – and I ran. I ran to the edge of the woods that surrounded my house. It was then that I turned back to see some people on my front lawn. I ran to my favorite ice cream parlor, where my parents would take me every Friday night. When my parents didn't show up in the morning, I talked to the owner, who knew my parents personally, and we came to an agreement. He would let my sleep in the back of the shop. I would stay in the back alley during the day, waiting for the owner to come out and tell me my parents were there. I ate from the food I had in my emergency bag. Some days, I even walked around the city. I never went too far for too long, in case my parents were at the shop. I waited a whole week before accepting the fact that they weren't coming.

"I ran to Gotham Orphanage. The first things they did were taking my bag and emptying it out. They took what little food I had left in there and gave it to the kitchen. They took my sleeping bag, too. Within the first day there, I wanted to leave. They made you do chores and if you did something wrong, they hit you in front of the other children, so that you would be an example to them. I told the two people there that I knew I could trust. One was twelve, and the other was seven, like me. They understood, and they helped me. At dinner, if there was a nonperishable food that they were serving, they would give me theirs to escape with. I would always wear a sweatshirt with large pockets to smuggle food out of the dining hall. Some nights, the three of us went hungry from not even eating any of our meal because I could use the entire thing. This went on for a week. I was finally able to steal back my sleeping bag. They, for some reason, hadn't touched my clothes, money, blanket, or pillow. On the last night, Lexi, a seven-year-old that I shared a room with, she threw a fit because she wanted her window open that night. When they said yes and left, she looked at me and winked. Everyone in the orphanage was in on the plan. She was the last person that looked to before I climbed out that window, mouthing to her, 'Thanks.' I saw her eyes open and I saw her nod at me, like she was wishing me well." By now, Kitten had tears in the corners of her eyes from remembering her tragic past, but Robin couldn't see them from the outside of her glasses.

"I ran as fast and as far as I could back to Downtown Gotham, and I lived in the streets. I had barely enough food and money for a year's survival. During the winter, when it was cold out, you learn to suck it up. Surprisingly, with all that happens in Gotham and you would know about this, I wasn't touched; I wasn't hurt, or anything. No one cared. People were generous enough to give me food sometimes, but other than that, no one cared. When I was eight was when things got rough.

"Some days, I went hungry. It was those days when I would sit and just sing. My parents had raised me on classic rock and 80's music, so people knew the songs I was singing. One day, a man laid a twenty dollar bill in front of me. Before the wind could snatch it away from me, I scrambled forward from my sitting position to grab it. I knew what I had to do to make money. You see, every hobo has a specific intersection. I was lucky enough to find one of the busier ones as my home. One of the cons is the noise at night when you're trying to sleep. But one of the pros is the traffic jams. Those were my greatest business times. I would go up to cars, they would roll down their windows, I would sing a song for them, and they would hand me money. Some people might say that's horrible. I would say that's business.

"I didn't use this money for food or clothes. I used this money for pencils and colored pencils and notebooks and sketchpads. I wrote stories, I drew artwork, and I sang. I would sell my work to people. Now, at eight years old, you can imagine my surprise that people were giving me an average of fifteen dollars for each art piece. One rich person even gave me fifty dollars for one of my drawings. I was amazed that people thought I was good. Sure, I knew I was smart, but a good artist and writer? Really? Once a man even came up to me and asked if he could publish my story. I told him that as long as he gave me dedication or acknowledgement and some part of the profits, he could. At the end of each month and gave me a chunk of cash. I used this money for food because I already had plenty of pencils and such. I had it made for being a hobo.

"When I was nine, I signed up for government food stamps. Of course, when a nine-year-old girl signs up for food stamps, you'd think it was very odd. I hid in alleys and such so Child Services wouldn't find me and take me back to the orphanage. I moved my location every week. Sure, it was difficult, moving away from my greatest business spot. I went back at the end of every month, though to collect my book profits. I stayed with other hobos. We shared our stories, our trash can fires, our food, and sometimes money. They were my family for the time being. One night, though, three years after my house burned down, when I was ten, when I was alone, someone found me. I asked them some questions and they took me home. They home-schooled me, trained me, took me shopping, and prepared me for life. I lived with them for three years. I moved out two months before Batman found me. I lived as a hobo again for two months before I officially met you. But I already knew who you were.

"You see, some of the nights when you were out with Batman, I was, too. Those were the nights when you two were chasing Catwoman after she tried to rob a bank or something. I bet what you didn't know about her was that she had an accomplice. She had someone there to finish the job while you were chasing her. She had a sidekick. That sidekick was me." At this, Robin flinched away from her as if she were and open flame or something. "I knew what I was doing was wrong. That's why I left. Apparently, though, Catwoman had known Batman on a personal level. She knew who you were. She told me everything she knew about you two, everything I would need to know to be able to finish her job without you two knowing. That's how I knew who you were." Kitten looked at Robin. He looked as if he would attack her at any moment. "I'm sorry, Robin." She turned away and looked at the ground.

Robin had a hard time processing all of this. Catwoman had had a protégée. And he was in love with her.

**Oh, I love cliffhangers. Sorry for leaving you guys with one, though. I'll try to update tomorrow, maybe. Happy Black Friday! Also, I disabled anonymous review. If you got something bad to say, at least let me reply.**


	8. Relationship Troubles and Nightmares

**So, as soon as I posted the last chapter, I immediately started writing this one. Thanks for the kind words and such. I'm glad you guys like the story.**

**Soon, Kitten will be in the plotline of the story, starting with the episode, Downtime. With the earlier chapters, please excuse any and all mistakes I made with the plot. I didn't know where I was gonna insert Kitten into the plot, so I didn't know about the mistakes I was making.**

**Let's continue the story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice. I only own my OC Kitten and her part in the plot of this fanfic.**

Kitten and Robin were at Mount Justice, in a mostly soundproof bedroom. Kitten had just told Robin her life's story and that she was once Catwoman's protégée. They were sitting on the bed next to each other. Kitten was staring at the floor. Robin was staring the girl in shock. He was staring at Catwoman's former protégée and the girl he loved with all of his heart. He leaned forward and took her chin in his hand. He turned her head towards himself and kissed her. She kissed him back and wrapped her arms around his neck almost tackling him back onto the bed they were sitting on. He put his hands on her waist and flipped so that he was over her. They were making out for a few minutes before Kitten pulled away. Robin immediately ducked his head down and started kissing her neck.

"Robin, I need to find Artemis and ask her something. Please, as much as I love you, stop." The Boy Wonder reluctantly pulled away and got up. He helped Kitten up soon after. They stepped out of the room, closing the door behind them. As they walked around Mount Justice, trying to find Artemis, Robin linked his hand with Kitten's, threading their fingers together. Eventually they found Artemis in the training room, practicing her archery, like she needed to. "Artemis, I need to talk to you!" As Kitten ran to talk to the blond archer, Robin left, heading off to talk to Wally and Kaldur.

"What do you want?" There was definitely some hostility in Artemis's voice. Even she sensed it. Her face softened and she smiled a small smile. "I'm sorry, Kit. What do you need to talk about?"

"I just wanted to let you know that Robin and I are officially together," Kitten replied with a grin on her face.

"Oh, I'm so happy for you guys!" Artemis's small smile turned into a huge grin.

"Thanks Artemis. Also, I wanted to talk to you about Wally." At this, Artemis's smile dropped and she immediately went back to her archery. "Artemis, listen to me. It might not seem like this at times, but Wally likes you. He likes you a lot. And I know you like him, too. Also, Robin and I both know about (She dropped her voice to a whisper) your family." Artemis gasped and lowered her bow, her face paling. "But I wouldn't tell anyone and neither would Robin, I swear." Artemis let out a sigh of relief. "I should go. I'll talk to you later, Artemis."

"Bye, Kit."

Walking back into the kitchen, Kitten was met by Superboy. She looked at him with a questioning look as if asking, _Is M'Gann coming to our little emotion sessions?_ He nodded his head and went to do whatever it is that Superboy does. Kitten sat down next to Robin and leaned her head on his shoulder. He reacted by wrapping his arm around her shoulders and kissing the top of her head. She smiled and leaned into him more. Aqualad walked in. He looked at the two and smiled, but just as suddenly as it was there, it disappeared to be replaced with a homesick expression. "Aqualad, come sit down. We need to talk," said Kitten. Aqualad sat down across from her. She sat up, but Robin didn't take his arm away. "So, who is she?"

"What are you talking about?" Aqualad was generally confused.

"The girl that you're thinking about, who is she?"

"Her name is Tula. She's Atlantean. I miss her, and I think I may be in love with her. But, how did you know?"

"What do you mean?" It was Kitten's turn to be confused.

"How did you know I was thinking of someone?"

"Everything I know about guys, I learned from a book my first foster mom gave me when I was 12. It's called Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. It's everything girls need or should know about boys. For example, when your guy friend sees you and your boyfriend and looks unhappy, it means he either has a girl on his mind, he's envious or jealous, or doesn't approve of the couple. But because I know you've already 'approved' of me and Robin together and you'd have no reason to be jealous of us, you had to have been thinking of a girl you missed. It's simple, really." The two boys looked confused for a moment but then understanding washed over their faces. Kitten smiled and shrugged. "Well, it's getting pretty late, so Robin and I should head back home. I hope things work out between you two."

"And with you," Aqualad replied. He had a smile on his face as if his mind was at ease again. The couple walked hand-in-hand to the Zeta Tunes and teleported back home and changed into their pajamas. Dick was wearing an oversized Batman t-shirt and red, plaid, flannel pajama pants. He waited for Rachel to knock on his door, letting him know, she was done changing.

When he heard the knock, he opened his door, smiling, to reveal Rachel wearing a long red tank top with a black fur-trimmed nightgown, her classic red and black striped stockings, and red creature-shaped slippers. She was holding a little Freddie Krueger doll in her hands. She smiled, seeing his shirt and raised her eyebrows, asking _Really?_ Dick smiled back and shrugged in reply.

"What, it's comfortable."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Where are we tonight: your room or mine?"

"My room is a mess, as you can see," he said, gesturing to the pigsty behind him. "So, your room it is." Rachel smiled and took his hand and they went to her room. They lay on the bed. Rachel curled into Dick's side and he put his arm around her, the opposite hand behind his head. "You never told us what your nightmares were about."

**~*~ Flashback Time ~*~**

_Rachel tossed and turned in bed. She had to wake up. She screamed and as she did, she bolted upright and her door swung open, the light immediately turning on afterwards. There stood Bruce, Alfred, and Dick. Rachel sat on her bed, panting and gasping for breath, keeping two fingers pressed to the side of her neck to monitor her pulsing heart rate. Bruce stepped forward and asked, "Rachel, are you okay? Why were you screaming?"_

_She looked past him and locked eyes with Dick. He seemed the least concerned but also sympathetic. She explained everything with one word: "Nightmare." Dick nodded, knowing what she was going through. "I just need a glass of water."_

"_Alfred, could you-?"_

"_I'm already on it, Master Wayne." With that, Alfred disappeared to get a glass of water for the poor girl. He came back a moment later with the water in his hand. He had even put ice in the glass and a slice of lemon on the edge._

_Rachel smiled at the butler's thoughtfulness. "Thank you very much, Alfred."_

"_It's no problem. If that's everything, I should like to return to bed while I can still get some sleep." Everyone nodded and said good night. Alfred left, leaving the small family in each other's company. Bruce looked very concerned; Dick, as mentioned before looked more sympathetic than anything. Once Alfred left, Dick quickly lifted the covers and climbed under, sitting next to Rachel. He wrapped his arms around his new sister. Even if she was mysterious and demanding, they were a family now, and they had to act like one._

_Rachel leaned into his hug, quietly sipping her water. Bruce spoke p. "Do you want to talk about it? It might help."_

"_No thanks. I'm good. If it's okay with you guys, can Dick stay with me tonight? I remember when I was younger, if I had a bad dream, I would ask my mom or dad to stay with me for the night. Also, when I lived with…my foster mom, there was the same problem. I would ask her to stay with me for the night. I didn't ask very often, but I had nightmares just about every night. While I lived on the streets, I learned to keep my screams quiet. But every time I woke up on the streets in the middle of the night, there was no one there. I usually fell back asleep only to be engulfed in another nightmare. Just having someone there is enough for me to not have nightmares. I'm not saying that someone staying with me at night causes sweet dreams, but at least the dreams aren't too bad if there are any." They both nodded as if they understood._

"_I'm here for you, Rachel." She looked up at Dick with a smile._

"_Well, I should be getting back to sleep." Bruce started to get up. "Here, I'll take your glass." Rachel handed him the empty glass and lay back down in bed, Dick quickly following. "If you ever want to talk, you both know how to find me." With that he turned off the lights and shut the door._

"_Rachel?"_

"_Yeah?"_

"_Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"_

"_I'm fine, Dick, but thank you."_

**~*~ Flashback Over ~*~**

"If you ever want to talk about anything, Rachel, I'm here."

"Dick, are you sure you want to know what my nightmares are about? You've never asked before, so why ask now?"

"I'm curious. Please tell me."

"Well, it's never the same one twice. They're usually similar, but never the same. It's always something to do with the night my parents died. Sometimes I'm running through the woods as they burn around me. Sometimes I see the burned corpses of my parents come back to life. It's always something like that. But in my dreams there's always this one sound in the background that will haunt me to my dying day. In my nightmares, there's always someone laughing in the background. It's always the same person, too. They're cackling, and it's a high-pitched cackle, but still too low to be a woman's cackle. There's always a man cackling in the background like the air he breathes is laughing gas." By now, Rachel had tears down her face.

Dick was quick to wipe them away. "I know what you mean. I'll still have nightmares about watching my family die before my eyes. Also, I know who's always laughing in your nightmares. Only one person laughs like that, and it's the Joker. I think he's the one that burned down your house. I'm sorry." He hugged the crying girl closer to him, kissing the top of her head in comfort. After a few minutes of hearing her sobs, he had silent tears of his own running down his face. Pretty soon, Rachel was silent. She must've cried herself to sleep, he thought.

"Are you still awake?" she asked. Or not, he thought.

"Yeah, I'm still awake. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine now. Could you please not tell Bruce about what happens in my nightmares?"

"I won't for now. We'll have to tell him at some point, though. This can't be kept a secret forever."

"I know. We should also tell him about my first night with The Team."

"That is true, but for now, I'm tired. We need our rest."

"I agree. Good night, Dick. I love you."

"I love you, too, Rachel." But she was already asleep.

**Aw, how adorable. Next chapter, Kitten becomes a part of the plotline of the series. I'm starting with the episode, Downtime. Stay tuned.**


	9. Downtime

**So, this is the first chapter where Kitten is actually part of the plotline of the series. I'm starting her existence in the series with the episode Downtime. Please, enjoy the story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice. If I did, things would be a lot different in the series. I only own the OCs and their parts in the plot.**

"Aargh!" Kitten let out a grunt as she slammed against the wall and slumped to the floor next to her unconscious teammates, save Artemis, who wasn't on the mission, and Aqualad. Clayface was tough. What was worse was that she was defending her hometown of Gotham City. Only Aqualad was left, but it would soon be over for them. Aqualad faced the same pain as she did, being slammed against the wall and crumbling to the floor. Just as Clayface was about to finish off Aqualad, Batman burst through the ceiling and electrocuted Clayface, turning him into a puddle of mud.

Once everyone was woken up and such, they transported back to Mount Justice. Batman did not look happy. "I need to talk to Aqualad. The rest of you hit the showers and head home."

"Home, I am home," Superboy replied. He, M'Gann, and Wally walked off to go shower. Kitten started to, as well, but stopped when she noticed Robin wasn't with her. He was standing somewhat behind Aqualad, waiting for Batman to talk to him, too.

"Just Aqualad," Batman clarified. Robin started walking away. As he passed by Kitten, she put a comforting hand on his shoulder and they walked towards the showers. Robin looked back only once before continuing walking. Soon, they came to where there were separate shower stalls for each Team member. Robin and Kitten walked to their respective stalls and closed the door. They each took short showers, but made sure to get all of the clay out of their hair. They were each presented their usual civilian outfits once they were done. After getting dressed, they stepped out of their stalls and prepared to go home.

Robin seemed upset about something. Of course, he would never tell Kitten anything about it. Right after Robin had left, just as Kitten was about to follow, Aqualad came running up to her, still covered in clay. "Kitten, I need to talk to you before you go. I'm going back to Atlantis for a small while. I'll return soon, I promise. It's just that I'm going to see Tula. I'm going to tell her I love her."

"Oh, wow, that's great. Hey, listen, I gotta go. Robin's probably waiting for me. I wish you the best, and I hope everything turns out okay for you guys. Bye, Aqualad." With that, she stepped into the Zeta Tube, transporting back to Gotham City.

Robin was waiting. "Hey, what happened to you? You weren't right behind me like normal."

"Aqualad wanted to tell me something. I'd rather not talk about it, if that's okay."

"That's alright. Let's get home. I need to relax."

"I know what you mean." After a while, they made it back to Wayne Manor. "I'm going to be in the 'basement' working on something. I'll see you later, Dick."

"Talk to you later, Rachel." With that, Dick walked off to his room. Rachel headed down to the Batcave to work on a weapon design she had. She drew something out and left it for Batman to find later. She went up to her room and changed into her Gymnastics outfit, which consisted of a black leotard over red lace leggings, red bands of cloth wrapped around her stomach, red arm-warmers, and black ballet shoes complete with ribbons. She tied her hair up into a ponytail and headed down to the Wayne Manor gym.

When she got there, she heard Dick inside. She peeked through the door way to see him practicing on the rings. She watched in interest as he propelled himself off of the rings into the air, somersaulting through the air, until he tried to land on one of the circular platforms. She winced as he landed wrong, and she immediately ran forward to catch him as he fell off. She caught him with her arms under his in the classic "Trust Fall" position. He looked up in surprise. "Hi," Rachel said, smiling down at him.

Just then his face realized what had happened. "Hey," he replied. She helped to stand and he grabbed a towel and a cold water bottle and began to relax and cool down. "How long had you been watching?"

"I only saw the stuff you did on the rings. You're pretty good. I bet I could do better, though," she challenged with a smirk. He looked up at her while she was stretching. At the moment, she had brought her one foot back and up in a ring shape so her toes were touching her ponytail. She raised her eyebrows, again challenging him.

"Oh, you are on. You can go first; I need to cool down a bit."

"Alright, suit yourself." She finished stretching and walked towards the rings. Just as she was about to begin climbing up the pole to reach the rings, she turned back and asked, "Are we going for landing, tricks, endurance, or something?"

"All of them, let's go for all of them." Dick was full out grinning as he watched Rachel climb up the pole to reach the rings. They were about ten feet in the air. She grabbed the closest one from the side and used that to swing over and grab the other one. She just hung in the air for a few seconds, straightening her self out, and then began her routine.

The first thing she did was bring her legs straight up to practically fold herself in half. She dropped her legs but kicked them right back up over her head to push herself up so she was standing on her hands in the rings upside down. She brought her legs apart into an upside down split and wrapped one leg around each of the cords that held the rings. She let go of the rings with her hands, sliding down the cords until her ankles touched the tops of the rings. She quickly slipped one foot into each ring and twisted her upper body so she was quickly spinning upside down and the cords were twisting together. Once the cords were as twisted as possible, she stopped spinning. In the split second before the cords untwisted, she folded herself in half again, grabbed the rings with her hands, and slipped her feet out of the rings. The cords untwisted and she spun down. Once the cords were fully untwisted, she managed to stop them from twisting up again by moving her arms down to the sides, pulling her up. She dropped her body once more. Her routine was almost over. To finish, she pulled herself up and let go of the rings. She somersaulted up in the air and down towards the ground. She landed on the ground, stable on her feet, but quickly did a backflip, landing that in a split.

Dick sat in stunned silence. Where had she learned to do that? The rings were only to be used in Men's Gymnastics. It was as if their roles were reversed. It was as if she was the one who had grown up in a circus, like she was the acrobat. Even if she wasn't, she could've fooled him. If he focused on nothing else, he could just picture her doing these tricks on the silks in the circus. He smiled and applauded her.

The sound of clapping broke her out of her trance. She looked over, suddenly remembering where she was, and saw Dick clapping for her with a smile on his face. She smiled back. "You should really come to my Gymnastics class. There's only one boy in the class, he doesn't even know how to use the rings, and he's too self-righteous to ask for help. The owners of the gym don't want the money they spent on the rings to go to waste, so they let the girls use them. I'm the only one that does, though. The other girls don't want to get involved in a 'man's sport'." She got and walked over to where he was sitting. On her way, she grabbed a towel and water bottle to cool down. "Your turn," she said with a smirk.

"Alrighty then, watch and learn." He got up and dragged a trampoline under the rings. Rachel raised an eyebrow. Dick backed up to the wall to get a running start. When he reached the trampoline, he leaped up, doing a somersault through the air onto the trampoline. After the first bounce, he was able to reach up and grab the rings. His routine had begun.

He brought his legs up so his body formed a right angle. He started moving his hips and twisting his legs so they made a full circle while he still faced the same direction. Soon after he started he stopped his legs' swinging so it looked as if he was sitting on air. In the same second, he let go of one ring and immediately started spinning while holding onto the other ring with both hands. When he stopped spinning, he launched himself up into the air, doing somersaults and flips until he fell back onto the trampoline. He immediately bounced back up and grabbed the rings again and started doing full-circle swings. He did two in a row, but on the third one, he launched himself up again, doing somersaults in the shape of a cannonball. He landed on the trampoline, doing backflips to the platform he had tried to land on when Rachel first came in. This time, though, he stuck the landing perfectly.

She clapped, smiling at the amazing routine. "That was amazing, Dick. I love how you used the trampoline." He looked over, smiled, and jumped down from the platform. He walked over to where she was sitting, positively beaming. She handed him a new towel and water bottle, grinning from ear to ear.

"Thanks, Rachel." He kissed her cheek and sat down, cooling off once again. Alfred appeared in the doorway.

"Master Bruce wishes to see you, Master Richard." Dick looked over at Rachel.

"You go ahead. I'm gonna stay here and practice some stunts." She gave him a peck on the cheek and walked over to a different, larger, trampoline. Dick smiled at her and followed Alfred out the door. As he left, they both looked at each other one more time, smiling at one another. After about ten minutes of practicing cartwheels, flips, and tumbles on the trampolines and mats, she decided to try and find Dick. She found him outside, playing basketball against Bruce.

Bruce saw her. She quickly raised her finger to her lips, silently telling him not to say anything. He was trying to block Dick from making a shot. Rachel came up behind Dick, waiting for him to make the shot. He shot and it hit the backboard. Before either of the boys could react, Rachel ran forward, grabbed the ball and went for a lay-up, sending it through the net. She caught the ball as it bounced off the pavement, smiling at Dick. "Which team do you want to be on, Rachel?" Bruce asked, already knowing the answer. She walked over to Dick and stood by his side, the basketball under her arm. "As I thought," Bruce commented with a nod. "Are guys ganging up on me now?" The teens smiled at him, and, with a nod, Rachel bounced the ball to him. He bounced it back with a smile, and the three played until they were all tired.

Dick was the first to speak up. "Guys, I'm tired. Can we stop? It's late and I kinda need some sleep."

"Yeah, I do, too," Rachel added with a nod. Batman agreed; the teens started to walk towards the house when Bruce called Rachel back. Dick looked at her, silently asking her if she wanted him to wait. "Go ahead, Dick. I won't be long." She walked back to Bruce. "Can I help you?"

"First of all, I saw your designs for that weapon. I really like it. I'll be willing to help you make it and improve upon it, if you'd like. Also, what's going on between you and Dick? You two seem closer than siblings should be."

"That's the thing. We're not actual siblings. Also, we work together and are in all of the same classes. We like the same things. We're best friends. And actually, I think we're more than even that. Oh, and thank you. I worked hard on those designs."

Bruce nodded. "I figured there was something going on. If anything happens between you two, let me know." Suddenly, his expression turned from smiling and laughing to fatherly and serious. "Is there anything else – anything at all – that you wish to tell me?" His gaze seemed to look into her soul, as cheesy as it sounds. She shook her head.

"Can I go now?" He nodded. She turned around and walked back inside to shower and go to bed. After a quick shower, she threw on some comfortable pajamas and knocked on Dick's door. They went back to her room, just like the night before. And just as they did so many times before, they crawled under the covers curled into each other, quickly falling asleep.

Aqualad was back. The Team came in just as Aqualad came through the Zeta Tubes from Atlantis. He was quickly met by Kitten. "Aqualad, how'd it go? What did Tula say?"

"She had another." He looked sullen as he said this.

"Oh, I'm sorry. But don't worry; there are other fish…in the sea. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that." She realized her mistake too late. Aqualad chuckled.

"It is okay. I know what you meant." They walked back over to where the rest of The Team was.

"Made your decision?" Batman asked. He didn't even look up from what he was doing.

"The decision is made. I am here, 100%," Aqualad replied.

"Just in time for your next mission," Batman continued. At this, the rest of The Team gathered around to listen to what he had to say. "The Watchtower detected an immense power surge in the Bialyan Desert."

**Next chapter, The Team is in the Bialyan Desert for episode 9, Bereft. Stay tuned! ;)**


	10. Weapons and Such

**Actually, I lied. I'm going to insert a small chapter before episode 9. I just want to include a brief description of what happened between the Dick and Rachel vs. Bruce basketball game and when Aqualad returned. Next chapter is episode 9…most likely.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own YJ. I only own my OC, Kitten/Rachel/Olivia, and her part in the plot.**

**Enjoy the story!**

Rachel worked tirelessly down in the Batcave to carry out her designs. Bruce was helping her to create her weapon. It was a metal disc that looked like the top of a beach ball, but relatively flat. It was made of titanium and the disc attached to the back of Rachel's Kitten costume. It was about an inch at the center of the disc and tapered out at the sides. It was roughly the size of Aqualad's water pack. The thing was made of billions of tiny, movable, stackable, scale-like plates. It was pretty much made of tiny metal LEGOs. The plates could be moved around to form a lot of different things, such as a bo-staff, a grappling hook (with scaly, metallic rope), or even a sword. The scales could even be separated to form two short daggers. It wasn't easy to break, though. Sure, if you pulled it apart, you would be able to, but if you dropped it, it wouldn't shatter.

Dick even helped Rachel after the weapon was done. He helped her to create a gauntlet just like his. It could perform just as well as his, too. It could hack, display holographic images, etc. Anything that Robin's could do, it could do, too.

Everything was perfect. The Team was sitting around, waiting for Aqualad and for a mission from Batman. They were just sitting around, enjoying a batch of cookies Megan had made. "These are amazing, Megan!" Kitten exclaimed. Just then, they heard the Zeta Tubes firing up. They walked out of the living room area to see Aqualad walking through the Zeta Portal. "Aqualad, how'd it go? What did Tula say?"

**So, this is just a slight filler chapter. I wanted to give Kitten a weapon before her first real mission. Thank you for reviews and such. You guys rock.**


	11. Bereft

**Okay, so the reason I put in a filler chapter was because I didn't want to send her to the desert without any means of protection. Also, if your wondering what her "Stealth" outfit is, there's no skirt, her chest is covered more, the belts change from just a black, studded belt to lots of cloth belts around her waist, also, she has this one belt with a fake ruby on the front of it (when you press it, light shines out from it like a flashlight), her boots are all black, no red details, and the only red she wears are the striped arm-warmers. For the outfit to change, she twists her right cat ear. To change back, she twists the other. Just thought I'd clarify that.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice. I only own Kitten and her part in the plot. Also, I don't own Dexter. I'm just referencing the show.**

**Enjoy the story!**

Kitten woke up and immediately noticed the sand around her. Where was she? There was no sand in Gotham. She heard a slight moan and looked next to her. She saw Robin and she immediately scrambled up and away from her enemy. He could never know who she was. She was next to a rock structure in a desert somewhere. She looked around her and then suddenly noticed her clothes. Her chest was covered more, she wasn't wearing her usual skirt, she had different boots on, and she was wearing different belts. What the heck had happened? She reached up, forgetting about the cat ears on her head. She scratched behind the left one and felt an immediate shift. She looked down and saw her original outfit. She touched the left ear again, but nothing happened. She scratched behind the right ear and felt the shift again. She looked down and saw the first outfit. She touched her left car ear and watched her clothes change. She touched her right cat ear and saw them change again. She stayed in her first outfit, the one with less red.

Robin woke up and saw something standing a little ways off from him. He got up and saw it was girl. She was dressed head to toe in black with black cat ears and a tail. She had a mask and gloves identical to his. He heard something from the other side of the rock they were next to. He looked over and saw a vehicle coming towards them. He walked over to the girl, put his finger to his lips, and grabbed her wrist hiding them on a ledge on the rock. When the vehicle had past, he looked to the girl, but talked to himself. "What happened? Those were Bialyan Republican Army uniforms. What are Bialyans doing in - (He opened up his holographic GPS.) - Bialya? Okay, better question: What am I doing in Bialya? Whoa, September? What happened to March?" he practically shouted in a whisper. He looked to her. "By the way, who are you? I'd better radio Batman." At this, Kitten's expression changed to one of fear. She jumped down off of the rock ledge and ran. She had the exact same questions that he did, but Batman and Robin could not know who she was. Where was Catwoman? Why wasn't she looking out for her?

Back on the rock ledge, after his little flashback of Batman's command for radio silence, he finally noticed the girl running away. "Hey, wait!" He started running after her. He was faster, but it still took him a while to catch up to her. When he finally did, he tackled her to the ground. This contact seemed to trigger another flashback, but in both of their minds.

**~*~ Flashback Time ~*~**

_Kitten and Robin were sitting on the couch in front of the TV at Mount Justice. They were watching a mutually liked show, Dexter. Robin had his arm around Kitten's shoulders and she was curled up into his side. They both winced at the same time as Dexter sliced open his victim. As the gory scene progressed, Kitten hid her face in Robin's shoulder. When it was over, Robin kissed the top of her head and told her she could stop hiding. She lifted her head with a scared expression on her face. "Robin, could you turn it off?" He turned off the television._

"_Is everything okay, Kit?" She shook her head, and he wrapped his arms around her to comfort her. "It's not real. It's only a show." Hearing her soft sobs and feeling her shake in his arms, he turned her head towards himself and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck to kiss back. When they broke apart, Robin smiled at her kindly. "Are you feeling better?" He smirked. She laughed, nodded, and kissed him again._

**~*~ Flashback Over ~*~**

"So, your name is Kit?" She shook her head. "Well then, what is your name? What are we doing in Bialya? Do you know who I am?" Robin's questions were relentless.

"I can't tell you my full name, but I only know just as much as you do. People call me Kitten, and yes, you're Robin. If you saw what I saw, then I assume we're on the same team, but that doesn't really make sense, considering…" She suddenly stopped.

"Considering what?" Robin urged.

"I can't tell you, and besides, it doesn't matter. We're on the same team, anyways. Let's go get some answers," she said as she started to walk away.

"Well, we can't just walk up to a soldier or something and ask. We'll get shot." He seemed quite exasperated.

"Oh, I know. But think about this. If we ARE on a team, then we probably have other teammates. And – I'm just spitballing here – they're probably dressed as superheroes like we are. Do you follow?" He nodded. "Then let's get a move on, Boy Wonder." They started walking, but before long, Robin pulled up his holographic map again.

"I have a GPS marker about five miles from here. Do you think you can make it?" He was talking about running there.

"Oh, please, I was practically born on the track." She laughed and started running ahead of him. He soon caught up and they ran through the desert. After a while, they came upon a hill.

"Now, why would I put a GPS marker here?" As soon as they were able to see what was over the hill, they ducked down behind it. "I'm guessing that's why." Over the hill was a box-like thing that looked somewhat like a control center. They jumped over the hill and landed in front of the box. They were no more than two steps toward it when they were interrupted by several Bialyan soldiers coming up out of the sand. One said something in Arabic that they didn't understand. "Stay close to me," Robin commanded. Kitten pressed her back against his, and he threw down a smoke bomb. She could barely see, but could still make out the shapes of the soldiers. Apparently Robin attacked a couple of them because the pressure on her back disappeared soon after he threw down the smoke bomb. She even took out a few. The smoke cleared; apparently they had radioed for backup because there were more soldiers there to fight. Some raised their guns to shoot, but a dark blur raced past them all, taking their guns.

When the blur stopped, there was Kid Flash, holding all of their guns, but his costume had changed. Instead of yellow and red, he was decked out in black and gray. Kitten saw two soldiers coming up behind Robin. "Robin, look out behind you!" Kitten shouted. He turned around just in time to see the two soldiers flying backwards. He turned around and looked up to see a Martian girl floating down in a costume identical to that of Martian Manhunter. Kid Flash picked one up by his ankle, spinning him around quickly and throwing him into two of his team mates. One last soldier tried running away to get help, but someone sent an arrow toward him that exploded at his legs, wrapping a rope around them and tripping him. Everyone looked up to where the arrow had come from to see a girl decked out in green holding a bow and arrow. She walked down from where she was standing to meet with everyone else.

Robin walked up to Kid Flash. "KF, man, it's good to see a familiar face." They gave each other a high five. Apparently they already knew each other.

"Hey, Rob. Memory loss?" Kid Flash asked.

"Six months!" Robin replied. "Let's hog-tie these creeps and compare notes." After the soldiers were tied up, they stood in a small circle. After Miss Martian, or Megan, explained everything, Robin asked, "So we're a team?"

"The five of us and Superboy," Megan replied.

"Then this must be his," Robin said, holding up a piece of black fabric with a red Superman shield on it.

"Yes, did you see him?" Megan asked.

The girl dressed in green, Artemis, spoke up. "I think we did."

Kid Flash, or Wally, continued, "Feral Boy? Some teammate; he attacked us."

Artemis countered with, "He didn't know who we are. I don't know who we are!"

"I remember Batman ordering radio silence. Our team must work for him," Robin contributed.

"How do you know we don't work for my mentor?" Wally asked. He accidentally jabbed himself in the chest with his thumb, and his costume changed back to its usual red and yellow. "Whoa, this is so cool." He did it again, changing it back to black and gray. Everyone tried pressing their emblems except for Kitten. She twisted her cat ears. She stayed on the outfit without the skirt, but tried pressing the false ruby on one of her belts. It immediately lit up. She had a flashlight belt. She turned it off again. He kept changing it from yellow and red to black and grey and back.

"We look ridiculous," Artemis said. She turned to Kid Flash, who was still playing with his "Stealth mode". "Quit touching yourself! We need our memories back" Wally stopped on his black and gray costume. Suddenly, Robin, Kitten, Artemis, and Wally found themselves in a pink and purple dome-like structure. There were in what seemed like television screens all around, showing Megan's memories of all of them.

They heard Megan's voice "I've brought you into my mind to share what I've remembered so far. But I need your help. Together, our broken memories can form a whole if you open your minds to mine." As she talked, she appeared in the dome with her hood up.

"You wanna paw through our private thoughts?" Artemis was very skeptical.

"I have no wish to intrude, but-," Megan started. She was interrupted by Robin.

"You need to hack our minds to know what happened to us. Go," Robin said. Kitten rolled her eyes. Of course, he would make a reference to hacking.

"I'm down with it. But only memories of the Team," Kitten agreed. She didn't want them to know where she came from; at least, not yet.

"My brain's all yours. Try not to let its brilliance overwhelm you," Wally said. He was so cocky.

"Or underwhelm you," Robin countered. "Hey, why isn't anyone ever just whelmed?"

Artemis still looked skeptical. Wally walked over and grabbed her hand. "Fine, but only what you need," Artemis finally agreed.

Megan nodded and blue, hand-shaped things came out from her body, one from each hand and two from her head. The ones from her hands attached themselves to Wally and Artemis's heads. The two from her head attached themselves to Robin and Kitten's heads. Their eyes all closed as the flashback played in their minds.

**~*~ Flashback Time ~*~**

_They saw Batman standing in front of a floating holographic map. "The Watchtower detected an immense power surge in the Bialyan Desert. Spectral Analysis revealed elements non-terrestrial in origin. Find out what happened at that site, what landed there Bialya is a rogue state, ruled by Queen Bee and not a member of the League's UN charter. All communications are subject to interception. Maintain radio silence at all times." The scene changed. They were looking out over sand dunes, but Batman's voice still spoke. "You'll land in Qurac, on Bialya's border, two clicks from the hot zone."_

_They were in Qurac and Robin spoke up. "All clear," he said. Superboy started walking with the box-like thing on his back like a backpack._

_The scene changed again. Artemis, Robin, and Kitten were looking over a ridge at a warehouse structure. "The Bialyans control the site," Artemis said._

_Another scene change let them see Superboy setting down the box as a voice told him, "Set up here." Superboy turned a knob and modules pooped out all over the box. Each module had some kind of control panel on it._

_Next, they saw Robin typing something on a holographic keyboard and screen. "We'll be up and running in no time." Wally looked over his shoulder._

"_Jackpot, the site's lousing with Zeta beam radiation," he said._

"_Detecting non-terrestrial trace elements from the tent," Robin continued._

"_I'll check it out in camouflage mode." It was Miss Martian._

"_Good idea; go." The anonymous voice from earlier spoke up again._

_The scene changed. Superboy was telling Miss Martian, "Be careful."_

_Kitten hugged her and said, "Good luck."_

_Then Aqualad came up and said, "And maintain telepathic contact."_

"_I will, Aqualad," Miss Martian replied._

**~*~ Flashback Over ~*~**

They broke out of their trance and gasped. "Aqualad," they all said at the same time. Kitten face palmed herself.

"Where is he?" Robin asked. "What happened next?"

Miss Martian replied, "I don't know, that's the last I – we remember."

Only then did Artemis and Wally realize they were still holding hands. They quickly dropped them and Wally spoke up. "We landed 24 hours ago. If Kaldur's been wandering the desert for that long, well, that's not good for a guy with gills."

Robin realized something. "Now that I know to look for him, (He pulled up his holographic map.) he's close, but he's not moving."

When they found him, he was knocked out. He murmured something in Atlantean. Miss Martian held his head in her lap. "I can't restore his memories in this condition."

"He needs immediate rehydration," Robin said. "Call the bio-ship."

"It's out of range," Megan replied. She looked to Wally. "But you can get him there fast."

"He's too heavy, and I'm too low on fuel. Right now, I couldn't even carry her," he said, pointing to Artemis. She scoffed and hit his arm.

"Why not just levitate him back?" she asked.

"I can't. I have to find Superboy. Six months ago, he didn't exist. He has no memories, just animal impulse. I'm the only one who can help him," Megan replied.

"Superboy's indestructible. Just ask those tanks. It's Aqualad who needs your help, like, now," Wally tried reasoning with her.

Megan seemed to suddenly get a headache. "No! Superboy's in pain!" And with that, she flew off.

"M'Gann, wait!" Artemis called after her, but she didn't stop.

Robin shouted to Megan, "We still don't know what erased our memories! It could happen again!" But still, she didn't turn back.

"Well, there's no use in waiting for her to come back. Let's try to find the bio-ship and get Aqualad to safety," Kitten said. They agreed and fashioned a kind of stretcher for Aqualad. Artemis and Wally dragged the stretcher behind them, Robin led them with his holographic map, and Kitten brought up the rear.

Robin saw something. "Quick, over there," he said, pointing to a rock. They all ran to hide behind it. Aqualad murmured again, still in the Atlantean language.

Artemis tried to calm him down. "Ssshh, Kaldur, quiet now," she whispered, putting a comforting hand on his forehead. Robin and Kitten looked over the rock to see soldiers marching past.

"We can't risk a firefight with Aqualad KOed like this," Robin argued.

"It's not just him. I'm way out of juice," Wally added.

"And I'm almost out of arrows," Artemis said.

Kitten looked back to Robin to find he wasn't there. Wally said, "I forgot how much I hate when he does the ninja thing." He turned back to Artemis. "Hey, you never said why your dad would want you to kill me."

"I got…confused by some old movie I saw the other night about a ninja girl whose ninja dad ordered her to kill her ninja boyfriend because he was from a rival ninja clan."

"So, I'm your ninja boyfriend, huh?"

"Hey, amnesia, remember?" she countered. "I forgot how truly annoying you are."

"Oh, like you're the Goddess of Congeniality?" Wally remarked.

Kitten was about to say something when Robin spoke up, apparently back form what ever he was doing. "Yeesh, get a room."

"My thoughts exactly," Kitten added.

"Dude, where were you?" Wally asked.

"Breaking radio silence," Robin answered. Just then they heard his creepy laughter, but it wasn't from him. There was a huge explosion on the other side of the rock and a lot of coughing from the soldiers. "That's our cue. Move," Robin ordered and they grabbed Aqualad's stretcher and ran.

They found the ship and immediately hooked up Aqualad to an IV Drip filled with water.

'_Hey everybody, I've got Superboy. He's back to normal, and we're on our way,_' Megan's voice said in their heads.

Aqualad sat up suddenly. He looked at Artemis, who was standing closest to him. "Who are you, and how did you get inside my head?"

She pushed him back down as Megan's voice said, '_Hello, Megan, Aqualad's memories; I knew I forgot something._'

Wally said telepathically, '_Oh, man, me, too; I didn't get a souvenir from the mission._'

Megan replied, '_Don't worry. I got the souvenir thing covered._'

Kitten spoke up. "When we get back to the Cave, I need to show you guys something."

They made it back to the cave safe and sound. The souvenir turned out to be a giant sphere that had saved Superboy. Megan was convinced that it was alive and could feel pain, too. Superboy agreed with her.

"Guys, check this out." Kitten pulled her disc off of her back and demonstrated what it could do. She moved the scales to stack on top of one another then moved them outwards to form a bo-staff. She stacked the plates one more time and broke the stack in half. She quickly formed each into a dagger. She made them into stacks of scales again and put them back together. She formed the disc shape and clicked it back onto her back.

"That's so cool," Wally commented. "What is it made out of?"

"It's very light and almost indestructible." She gave him those two clues, knowing the science whiz would be able to figure it out.

"Titanium?" he guessed. Kitten nodded. "That is awesome."

"And Robin helped me with these." She showed off her new gloves that were identical to Robin's. Everyone agreed that these new adjustments were cool and went off to do their own thing except for Robin. He walked up behind Kitten and wrapped his arms around her waist. He kissed the sides of her neck, showing his love her. She giggled and turned around in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him fully and soundly. They heard the sound of someone clearing their throat and looked over to see Batman standing there with his arms crossed. Robin looked absolutely terrified, but Kitten looked annoyed and amused at the same time.

All Batman did, though was smile, nod, and walk out of the room. Kitten made an exasperated noise and turned back to Robin to find him extremely confused. "Did he just approve of us being together?" Kitten nodded. "Cool," he replied and went back to kissing her.

**I know I already had Batman find out about Kitten and Robin in Downtime, but I wanted Robin to know that he approved of them being together. Next time, we look at the episode, Targets. Stay tuned, Readers.**

**P.S. This story alone took up eight pages in Word.**


	12. Homefront

**Okay, I lied again. I can't do Targets OR Terrors because Robin doesn't appear in the series after Bereft until Homefront. So that's what this chapter is. This chapter is Homefront.**

**Enjoy the story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice. I only own my OC, Kitten, and her part of the plot.**

**BTW, in this chapter, when she's at school or in public, I'm calling Rachel Olivia because that's how people know her.**

Olivia was walking with Bette Kane, Barbara Gordon, and, of course, Dick Grayson when they saw the new girl, Artemis Crock, trying to pull her skirt down a bit more to cover up. Bette walked up and started talking to her. Olivia looked over to tell Dick not to do anything, but he was already gone. She looked back over to where Artemis was to see Dick taking his picture with her. "Dick, what was that about?" Barbara asked as she and Olivia leaned up against the arches in the courtyard.

Dick came up from behind them. "Nothing, Barbara; just being friendly to the new girl," he replied with a smile. Barbara walked away. Dick started to follow, but Olivia stopped him by grabbing him by the tie and pulling him into a kiss. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her back. She reached behind her with her free hand and grabbed his phone. He didn't even notice. She let go of his tie and, with her eyes closed, was able to delete the picture from his phone. She pulled away, smiling at her own trickery. Dick, thinking she was smiling at him, went in for another kiss. She stepped away from him and held out his phone with a smirk.

He took it with a confused look on his face. He checked his pictures, and his look became one of annoyance. He looked back up at Olivia to see her positively beaming. He rolled his eyes, took her hand and they jogged after Barbara, laughing.

That night, they were in an alley, waiting for something. They had agreed that if nothing happened, they would forget about everything. But, just as Robin had predicted and much to Kitten's annoyance, Artemis came down the same alley, wanting to use the Zeta Portal to transport to Mount Justice. Robin stepped out from behind the Zeta Portal posed as an out-of-order telephone booth. "Artemis?"

"Robin, I…uh," she stammered to try and find what she wanted to say. Kitten stepped out with an annoyed look on her face. She was annoyed at Robin, though.

"How random that you're in Gotham City instead of Star City, where your uncle, Green Arrow, lives," he said, somewhat accusingly. Kitten was exasperated.

"I'm…uh…here to see…my cousin! She was in the State Spelling Bee…here…in Gotham…City." Artemis was quick and slow at the same time with coming up with an excuse. This only made Kitten even more exasperated and frustrated. She wanted desperately to say that she and Robin already knew everything, that they had convinced Bruce to give her the scholarship.

"C-O-O-L; did she W-I-N?" Robin asked. Kitten rolled her eyes.

"N-O," Artemis spat. She must've remembered something or realized something.

"D-R-A-G," Robin spelled.

"Ugh, I'm getting tired of this," Kitten cried. "Look Robin, I already told Artemis that we know everything. Artemis, I already told you we know everything. Also, Aqualad called me during lunch at school, today, Robin. He said that Green Arrow has a date with Black Canary tonight, so Red Tornado is covering monitor duty for him at the Watchtower. So, even if she WAS Green Arrow's niece, she WOULD have a good reason for being here in Gotham. Now let's go." The other teens were shocked by this usually calm girl's outburst and by what she said. They each started to yell at her when she raised her hands and continued, "I'm not going to argue with you guys." She stepped into the booth, slamming the door and immediately shutting them up.

"Recognized: Kitten, B-08," the robotic voice said before she found herself at Mount Justice. Stepping out of the Zeta Tube, she was immediately attacked with water. She dove out of the way just in time. "Recognized: Robin, B-01," The robotic voice called from the Zeta Tube. Kitten grabbed her disc off of her back and quickly fashioned two straps for her arms to make a shield. She ran in front of the Zeta Tubes just in time to save Robin from being barbequed by a blast of fire. "Recognized: Artemis, B-07," said the robotic voice from behind them. As soon as Artemis stepped through the Zeta Tubes, they were again attacked by fire. After it was deflected off of Kitten's shield, they ran.

There was a thick smoke in front of them. Artemis shot arrows into the smoke while robin threw his exploding shurikens. They were practically blind. The smoke cleared a little, revealing the silhouettes of two figures. "Who are we fighting?" Artemis shouted.

"I don't know, but we're sitting ducks by these tubes," Robin answered.

Kitten, not having a throwable weapon, had opened up a holographic map of Mount Justice on her gauntlets. She pointed to the right. "Head for the exit!" she shouted. They did as she told, dodging blasts of fire along the way. They made it into the corridor but were met with a huge wave of water. "Or not," Kitten said, immediately turning around They started to run away from the wave, but were swept up in it anyways. They were slammed against the wall. They fell down, the water level dropping as well. They stood up, dripping wet. Artemis grabbed her bow and shot an arrow when the fireballs came.

They ran to the exercise room, dodging fireballs until the door closed behind them. Robin tried to radio the others. "Robin to Team; come in. Aqualad," he shouted. Artemis tried to telepathically communicate with M'Gann. They were knocked to the ground yet again by a fire tornado. They immediately got up and started running again. As they ran to the showers, Robin tried more codes. "Robin to Batcave; override RG4. Cave calling Justice League, HOJ/Watchtower; B-01, priority red," he shouted out as they turned on all of the showers. Artemis loaded an arrow as Robin came to a conclusion. "Comm. is down, blocked."

"At least the water's helping," Kitten commented. They heard a groan and soon, the temperature knobs started flying off of the walls, water blasting out behind them. Tiles fell off the walls and the showerheads were pushed off from the pressure of blasting water. The room soon filled with water, lifting the three teens up. "Or not," she said for the second time as they went under. Robin swam over, placed one of his exploding shurikens on the wall and swam back. The wall exploded, water rushing out of the hole, carrying the young heroes with it. They sat in the hall for a moment, coughing up water before they were on their feet again, running down the hall. They were in the kitchen and living room area.

"We need to get lost," Robin said.

Kitten saw something. "The air vent!" she shouted.

"Good, GO!" Robin ordered. She and Artemis ran towards the counter while Robin did something with the control panel on the wall beside the door. Kitten popped the cover off of the vent. Artemis climbed up, but Kitten looked back at Robin.

"What are you-?" she started to ask.

"Downloading Cave blueprints like yours already has," he interrupted. "It could come in – go. Go." Kitten jumped up into the vent, Robin following. Artemis was waiting for them. They started crawling through the vents. They came upon an intersection. "Go left," Robin told Artemis. They went left and narrowly avoided being barbequed. "Too close," Robin said to himself. "Take the first right. There should be a vent cover right in front of you." As predicted, there was a vent cover, which was removed by Artemis before she dropped down the new passageway. They landed on a walkway in the boiler room. Robin pulled up his map again. "This way," he said as he ran towards the stairs. They ran along another walkway before hearing the sound of metal falling on metal. They looked back to see a flaming figure on the first walkway. It looked around, as if looking for something – someone – before raising its arms and shooting fire up at the ceiling. The three heroes jumped from the walkway to the floor, hiding behind a boiler or something.

The one in front of them started beeping. They saw the temperature levels rise and the glass in front of the meters crack. "That's not good," Kitten declared. They ran in between boilers, avoiding jets of steam and fire blasts until they hid behind another boiler. Robin pulled up his map again.

"There should be another vent somewhere near here," he said.

Artemis called out to them, "Do you mean this one?" She already had the vent open and dropped into it. The other two followed, Robin placing another exploding shuriken on the boiler they were hiding behind. They fell into a vent.

Robin stopped. "Hang on for a second." He pulled off the cover of a small control box and plugged his gauntlet into it. The girls gave him a questioning look. "Blocking the Cave's Heat and Motion sensors to prevent the enemy from tracking us," he explained.

"I ask again. Who is the enemy?" Artemis asked.

"Let's find out. Downloading Cave security footage," he answered. Soon, they were watching Wally working on a bike with the other Teammates watching. Aqualad asked them how well they are juggling schoolwork and Team responsibilities. He made the comment about how Artemis started school that day and asked if they thought she would have any troubles. Wally made a comment about her being hostile and annoying but was sure she would be fine. That was when the explosion came. It even knocked out the camera.

"What happened?" Artemis asked.

"Explosion took out the camera. I'll find another angle." Robin checked the other three cameras and the three teens watched all of them get knocked offline. "That's it. All four are dead." The girls looked at him in shock. "The cameras; I meant the cameras. I'm sure the others are okay. Just give me a sec to find the fastest route to the hangar."

"They're fine. They've all got superpowers. They can handle anything," Artemis said to herself.

They dropped down into the library. "There's a secret passage behind one of these bookcases," Robin explained.

"Seriously; cliché much?" Artemis asked. They walked along the bookcases.

"You should see the Batcave," Kitten said. Robin laughed once, knowing it was true. They heard something and ran to hide behind a bookcase. They heard footsteps, metal on metal.

"Artemis, Robin, Kitten," Red Tornado's voice said.

"It's Red Tornado!" Artemis shouted, running out to find she was very wrong. Robin and Kitten tackled her under a table just before his robotic hand grabbed her.

"Yes on the Red, no on the Tornado," Robin shouted. This robot had an upside down trident on his chest and head. They crawled out on the other side right before the robot crushed the table. They ran towards the exit to be intercepted by another robot, this one female. She raised both hands and the teens quickly dove out of the way to avoid the flames from her hands. They jumped up onto the bookshelves, leaping from one to another. Then, the sprinklers turned on. Robin and Kitten jumped off of one bookshelf while Artemis stayed on, shooting in arrow at the robots.

"What are they?" she shouted. The male one blocked her arrow by raising a shield of water. The female punched the book case, activating a domino effect. Artemis jumped down with Kitten and Robin just as Robin opened the secret passage. They made it through the passageway just as the bookcases collapsed on where they were standing. They ran through the corridors, Robin leading the way, the girls trusting his judgment. "Did you know Tornado had…siblings?"

"No," Robin answered. As they came to an intersection, Kitten and Robin were stopped by Artemis.

"So now what; Red Tornado is one of the powerhouses of the League. How are we supposed to take down two of him?" Artemis argued.

"They DO seem pretty user-unfriendly," Robin commented.

"Don't joke," Artemis scolded him.

Just then, the voice of the male robot came over the speaker system. "Attention Robin, Kitten, and Artemis. You have exactly ten minutes to surrender or the lives of your teammates will be extinguished." The teens ran through the halls. "Eight minutes," the voice reminded them.

"We can access the hangar from here," Kitten told them. They heard something behind them. Turning around, they saw a huge wave coming through the hall towards them. "Or not," she continued.

"Will you please stop saying that?" Artemis begged just as the wave over took them. Robin unlatched his cape and quickly brought out rebreathers for each of them. The male robot came up behind them and grabbed Artemis's ankle. Robin grabbed one of her many arrows that had managed to loosen themselves from their quiver. As Robin attacked the robot by piercing its "eye", Kitten rounded up the rest of the arrows. Robin shot a grappling hook ahead and grabbed onto Artemis, who used her other hand to grab Kitten. As they propelled through the water, Kitten smirked, noticing the trail of exploding shurikens Robin had left behind.

They surfaced in the hangar and immediately heard someone yell, "Look out!" The three heroes looked up and swam to the side, narrowly avoiding a fireball. As they dodged, Kitten accidentally dropped the arrows she had "collected". The robot tried blasting them again, but they dove under the water. They came up beside Kid Flash and Superboy, who were trapped in twisted chunks of metal.

"Are you okay?" Robin asked.

"Forget about us. Help M'Gann!" he shouted. He looked up to where M'Gann was.

"Aqualad, is she -?" Artemis didn't finish her question.

"She is unconscious. I fear she – we can not survive much longer." The fire robot rose up and shot a blast of flame at Robin, Kitten, and Artemis, who avoided the attack by diving under the water again. They came up on the steps to the platform where M'Gann and Kaldur were trapped. At the bottom of the steps, the water robot surfaced with his left "eye" sparking. At the top, the fire robot landed with a fireball in each hand.

Robin looked to Artemis and told her to distract the fire robot. She shot an arrow at it while he ran down, throwing two shurikens at the other robot. They both bounced off and one stuck itself into the metal right next to Wally's head. The water robot raised a stream of water on each side of him and shot them at the heroes on the steps. At the same time, the fire robot shot jets of fire towards the same target. Robin, Artemis, and Kitten dove off of the steps and into the water. They swam down until they came to a metal grate, which kitten quickly removed. They swam through their new gate, up through another tube until they surfaced right next to a vent. They climbed up into said vent gasping for air. "Six minutes," came the voice of the male robot.

"What do we do now?" Artemis asked.

"We save them. That's how it works," Robin answered.

"Maybe that's how it's supposed to work, but those robots already took out our four, SUPERPOWERED friends!" Artemis shouted.

"You seem distraught." Robin smirked.

"Distraught? M'Gann is dying, we have NO powers, and I'm down to my last arrow!" Artemis took it out for emphasis. "Of course, I'm distraught!"

"Well get traught or get dead!" Robin argued.

"Alright, that is ENOUGH!" Kitten shouted. The others looked at her in shock. "You two have been up each other's asses since we got here and I'm tired of your bickering! We are TEAMMATES for crying out loud. It is we started acted like it!" She turned to Artemis. "We know M'Gann is dying! We all care! You and her are the closest things to sisters I will ever have!" She turned to Robin. "And yes, we need to save them! But that won't get accomplished if we just SIT HERE and ACCUSE and ARGUE!" She looked between the both of them as she ranted. "I've realized that I have a reputation for not saying a lot on missions or arguing at all! But I've been here less than a MONTH and am already FED UP with yours!" She took a deep breath. "We need to keep calm. Or we won't focus on anything at all. Am I understood?" Robin and Artemis nodded their heads quickly. "Good, now let's move."

She started to crawl away, Artemis and Robin following. Artemis asked Robin, "How are you two so calm?"

"Practice" was his answer. "I've been doing this since I was nine," he told her. "Her, she's been doing it since she was ten."

"Well, what good is that now? What chance do we have against unrelenting machines?" Artemis asked. Kitten heard Robin stop and stopped as well, turning to face him.

"Oh, duh, they're machines," he said.

"And one electromagnetic pulse will shut down any machine in range," Kitten continued.

"Great, except you'd better have an EMP emitter in your utility belt because I know I don't have one in my quiver," Artemis told Robin.

"I'm fresh out, but I'm betting we can make one." Robin raised his hand to his earpiece. "What do you say, KF? Is it do-able?"

"Totally do-able," Kitten heard Wally answer through Robin's earpiece.

"Five minutes," droned the robot voice.

"You know, if you had more time," Wally continued. They pushed open a tile from the wall of the medical lab. "Med lab, X-ray machine," Wally instructed. He then went on to explain how to create an EMP emitter. Robin concluded it was like a ripple effect and they needed to hook it up to the Cave's main generator.

"Which is where?" Artemis asked.

"The hangar," Robin and Kitten replied at the same time.

"Four minutes," said the water robot.

A panel opened in a vent in an empty hangar space. Kitten, Robin, and Artemis dropped out of it and, staying close to the walls, walked toward the edge to observe the robots below. "Okay," Robin said quietly into his ear piece "Make with the distraction." Just then, they heard Wally and Superboy taunting the robots. "Cover me." Robin attached a rope the wall outside of their ledge and swung down to the generator with the EMP tube under his arm. He immediately set to work setting up the EMP emitter. But, somehow, he couldn't complete the circuit.

"Robin, look out!" Kitten shouted. It was too late. A giant wave came up and swept him under the water. Kitten tackled Artemis away from the edge just in time to avoid a fireball. Artemis tried to blindly shoot her last arrow, but it didn't do anything. They scramble back into the vent and were just able to avoid getting scorched. They crawled through the vent and eventually found a hole in the vent where they saw Robin being lifted up in a column of water. The robots kept him suspended there, his head back and his mouth open. The girls both gasped and fell back against the opposite wall. "Artemis, I need to be by his side. You need to finish this. I know you can. I need to be by Robin until -," Kitten cut her sentence short. She looked at Artemis, who nodded. Kitten knew she was just as scared. Kitten crawled away and found an opening in the vents close to the hangar. She dropped down and walked towards the robots, who readied their respective elements. "There's no need for that. I surrender. But may I please be by his side?" she asked, referring to Robin. The robots looked at one another, looked back at Kitten, and nodded. She took the disc off of her back and dropped it on the ground. The water robot put Robin on the platform. "May I see that he is till alive?" They nodded once more.

She knelt down by Robin's side and checked his breathing and his heart rate. They were both normal. He was only unconscious. She lay down by his side and curled into him. She clutched his shirt and cried. "Three minutes," the robot said to Artemis, wherever she was. Kitten hoped she had a plan or was getting help. She didn't like this possibility, but dying by Robin's side would be nice. "One minute," the robot reminded Artemis. The doors opened and Artemis walked in.

"I surrender. Stop the clock." Kaldur and Kitten sat up from their positions on the floor and watched what Artemis did carefully. As she was about to hand over her bow, she jumped up and kicked the male robot's face. She then kicked off of the female robot's face as the robot started to attack. As she flipped backwards, she sent an arrow, presumably with a metal tip into the generator, completing the circuit and activating the EMP emitter. As the robots collapsed, the fire cage disappeared and the water drained.

"Kaldur; how's M'Gann?" Superboy asked.

"She breathes. I believe she will recover. What of Robin?" Kaldur asked.

Kitten turned to him and Artemis came up behind her. Robin coughed and looked up at Artemis. "He's – He's breathing, too," Kitten reported.

"Way to get traught," Robin said to Artemis.

Later, Robin recounted his tale of "surrendering" and pretending to drown before he actually did, but he blacked out. Kitten smacked his arm. "You had me worried sick!"

Robin wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry." Her response was to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him.

"M'Gann," Superboy said as he reached his hand towards hers.

"I'll be fine," she replied. At the moment, she was being held up by Aqualad.

Artemis was holding a laser cannon that they were going to use to cut away at the twisted heaps of metal imprisoning Wally and Superboy. Wally though, was getting impatient. "Will you quit playing with that thing and cut us free already?"

"It's not working, genius," Artemis spat back at him. "EMP shuts down all machines, remember?"

"All machines present at the time," Red Tornado said as they saw him hover over to where they were standing. When he landed, he asked, "What has occurred?"

"Had a little visit from your family," Robin answered.

"Your extremely nasty family," Artemis added.

"I was not aware I HAD relations." He walked over to the still robots.

"Where have you been?" Superboy asked.

"Monitor duty on the Watchtower," was Red Tornado's answer. "When it became clear Cave communications were down, I attempted to investigate, but your Zeta tubes were also nonfunctional. I transported to Providence and proceeded here." Suddenly, Sphere broke away from the side of the platform and the laser cannon went off.

"The pulse has worn off!" The Team shouted at the same time. The next thing they knew, Red Tornado was sucking the air out of the hangar. The last thing Kitten saw before blacking out was Robin kneeling down next to her.

"Kitten, Kitten; are you okay?" Someone was shaking her awake. She opened her eyes to see Black Canary. She sat up and looked around to find she was to last one to wake. Flash was cutting Wally out of the metal with some kind of laser, Captain Atom doing the same to Superboy. "What happened?" Kitten told them the full story.

"Where are the bots?" Kitten asked.

"Gone; all three of them, gone," Robin answered.

**I love bringing out Angry Kitten. It's fun to let her rant about stuff. Also, this took nine pages in Word. Plus, I had to delete the last chapter and submit it again; otherwise, the tiny mistakes I made wouldn't have shown up. Reviews are like air for the story! It needs them to live!**


	13. Alpha Male

**Hello, my subjects. It is good to see you. Thank you for your reviews and such. I introduce to you, the next chapter of the story, Alpha Male.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice. I own my OC, Kitten, and her part in the plot.**

**Enjoy the story, my children.**

As members of the Justice League rebuilt the Cave, The Team sat around a table. Only Superboy and Aqualad weren't sitting. Aqualad was talking to Batman, and Superboy, now Conner, preferred to stand. Green Arrow set down a bowl of pretzels in front of Wally, who has his head resting on his folded arms on the table. "Thanks, but no thanks," he said.

"Yeah, what we want are answers," Robin said, his hand at the middle of the table, holding Kitten's, who sat next to Wally on the other side. "About Red Tornado and his siblings," he continued.

"Exactly," Wally confirmed. Green Arrow said nothing, but moved to pick up the bowl. "Leave the bowl." Wally took the bowl from Green Arrow and began to stuff his face. Kitten rolled her eyes and smacked the back of his head with her free hand.

Suddenly, Conner was across the room, gripping Aqualad by the straps of his shirt. "You knew?" he practically shouted in Aqualad's face. "That android and his maniac family nearly killed M'Gann."

Said Martian flew over. "Conner, what are you doing?" The rest of The Team followed.

"Kaldur knew we had a traitor among us and said nothing."

"You knew?" Robin asked.

"And you didn't tell us?" Wally continued.

"No shit, Sherlock," Kitten told Wally. She was too shocked to do nearly anything. Somehow, she still managed to come up with a somewhat witty reply to Wally's question.

"I sought to protect The Team from –," Kaldur began, but was interrupted by Artemis.

"Protect us from what, knowledge that might've saved our lives?"

Conner turned to M'Gann, also too shocked at the knowledge. "You almost died," he reminded her.

"Enough," Batman said. Conner turned to him, still holding Aqualad's shirt. Batman narrowed his eyes, and Conner let go. "With Red Tornado…missing, The Team will now be overseen by rotating supervisors. Captain Marvel has volunteered to take the first shift." As he said this, Captain Marvel stepped forward.

"I'm really looking forward to hanging with you guys." He spoke with the voice of a man, but acted like a kid.

Conner looked to Aqualad. "After I dismantle Red Tornado, you and I are gonna –," he started to say, but was interrupted by Batman.

"Red Tornado is a member of the Justice League. That makes him a League responsibility. You WILL leave it to us." He turned around and a holographic screen came up, showing the front page of _News of the Planet_. "I have another assignment for this team." The headline read, "GORILLA TRADES BANANAS FOR BULLETS". The screen changed to the front cover of Gotham Truth Rag, showing a picture of the mayor of Gotham and the head line, "GOTHAM MAYOR ATTACKED BY GUERILLA GORILLA!"

Wally read the headline out loud in a questioning voice. "Batman, please. Tell us you're not sending us on this JOKE of a wild ape chase," Robin pleaded. Kitten knew his response before Batman even spoke.

"I never joke."

"He never jokes." They said at the same time. Batman looked at her. She shrunk back and looked away.

"I never joke about the mission," Batman continued. Robin looked down in anger and shame. "I've checked the sources. I've studied the patterns. Mayor Hill's encounter is only the latest in a series of incidents. Aqualad, (He turned to said member.) you and your team will depart for India and check this out." Aqualad nodded.

As Wally walked past Aqualad, he repeated, "YOUR team." He sounded resentful, and you could tell he was. Aqualad's eyes followed him in anger. His expression softened, however when Kitten came up beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder. She looked up at him with a sorrowful expression. He nodded and they walked together toward the bio-ship. They walk in just as Captain Marvel was boarding the ship.

"You're coming with?" Robin asked.

"Sure; we'll have a blast," he responded.

"Translation: he blames us for Red Fiasco and doesn't trust us," he told Wally. Kitten and Kaldur walked up. She put a hand on Robin's shoulder.

"You need to stop over-analyzing things." With that, she boarded the bio-ship. Wally turned to Kaldur.

"It's a big club." He and Robin boarded the ship. Kitten smacked the back of Wally's head as Kaldur boarded. The fly to India was silent. Artemis, Robin, and Kitten were sent down by ropes to check if the coast was clear before everyone else landed.

"All clear," Robin said as they came back to the landing spot.

"Switch to stealth mode," Aqualad said as he pressed his emblem on his belt. Kitten twisted her left ear, and M'Gann mentally changed the color of her outfit to black. "And we'll review mission parameters."

"Parameters," Wally repeated. "We don't need no stinking parameters." He touched the emblem on his chest, changing the color of his costume.

"It's Recon; we know what to do," Robin stated as he and Wally turned to walk away.

"Kid, Robin," Aqualad pleaded. They turned around.

"The three of us started this team because the Justice League was keeping secrets from us," Robin told him.

"Or did you forget that like you forgot to tell us about the mole?" Wally asked, putting on his goggles. They turned and ran off. Kitten turned to Aqualad.

"I'm gonna go get them. I'm sorry about what they said." He nodded. She ran off after them, shouting their names. She finally caught up to them. "Guys, what the hell was that back there? What are you two DOING?"

"I'm sorry, Kit, but I –," Robin started. He was cut off by Kitten's finger pressing against his lips, shushing him.

"Did you hear that?" she asked. The two boys strained to hear something, but heard nothing. They shook their heads. "Whatever it was, it's gone. Let's keep walking."

"You're coming with?" Robin asked.

"No shit, Sherlock," Kitten replied walking ahead. The two boys followed with a shrug. "I think I see something!" She ran ahead and crouched behind a leafy plant. She looked over the top and searched for the shape she was sure she'd seen. By now, Wally and Robin had caught up. She heard a noise again, the same noise from earlier. It was above them. She looked up and said, "Oh, shit."

A trio of vultures dived at them, but they managed to dodge the birds. Wally and Kitten got up and ran when they saw the vultures preparing to attack again. "I thought vultures only ate DEAD meat," Robin shouted, throwing up an exploding disc, but missing the bird. He followed his teammates.

"Yeah, these are some very proactive scavengers," Wally added.

"Proactive and super-sized," Robin said. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Cobra Venom?" Wally asked.

"Yeah," Robin and Kitten said at the same time, just managing to dodge another vulture. Robin jumped and weaved, ducking behind tree roots and such to avoid being eaten alive. Wally sped up a tree and cannonballed through the air, hitting a vulture down. Kitten grabbed a thick vine, tied a knot in the middle, and ran out into the open, waving her arms at the vultures. They flew towards her, but just as she was about to get pecked, she jumped up, placed the knot in one of the vultures' mouths. She used the vine as a bridle and steered her vulture towards the other one. She jumped off of her vulture just in time to avoid crashing into the other bird with the one she was riding. They crashed together and fell to the ground.

'Link established,' said Miss Martian's voice in everyone's mind.

'Should he really still be giving us orders, and should you really be following them?' Artemis asked.

'Listen, please,' Kaldur said.

'Oh, good, Aqualad's voice in my head; SO missed that,' Wally said sarcastically.

'Hey Kaldur,' Robin said. 'KF, Kitten, and I were attacked by giant vultures, but since we're MOLES, you probably think we attacked ourselves.'

'If he did, he wouldn't tell you,' Artemis said.

'Superboy, are you online or just pouting?' M'Gann asked.

'Busy; call back later,' he responded.

'What gets me is how nonchalant he is about not telling us,' Wally said. When others started to agree, Kitten snapped.

'Would everyone just shut up?' Kitten shouted. There was silence. She had the floor. 'You all are arguing that Aqualad is no longer fit to run The Team, but in reality, he's still the perfect candidate. What would you have done? If you were told there was a mole on The Team, what would you do? I sure as hell wouldn't tell anyone because that would do exactly what it's doing to us now. It's tearing us apart. We are a TEAM, for fuck's sake! It is high time we started acting like one! Robin, Artemis, you both heard this spiel less than a week ago. I'm surprised you both have forgotten! Maybe, instead of SHUNNING Aqualad for not telling us, we can all put ourselves in his shoes to UNDERSTAND what was going through his mind. I have been here less than a fucking MONTH and am tired of this arguing and bickering! So, right now, just shut up and listen to Kaldur!'

'Thank you, Kitten. I have just discovered that Captain Marvel has been captured. We MUST save him. When the mission is over, if you wish to select a new leader, I will happily step down, but until that time, I AM in command here.'

They gathered on a hill, Robin and Kitten both scanning the force field barrier. Wally activated his infrared goggles and Artemis notched an arrow into her bow. 'I'll fly over,' Megan said.

'Negatory,' Wally replied. 'The field extends like a dome over the whole compound.'

'Pile-ons are isolated. But one good shock could cause a momentary gap,' Robin explained.

'I see a target.' Artemis raised her bow, ready to shoot.

'Then be ready to hit,' Aqualad said. 'Be ready; all of you.' He ran down the hill to the force field and used his electrokinesis to force open a small hole for Artemis to shoot through. She shot her arrow, and it hit the control panel, which deactivated the force field. They raced down the hill. They heard a baboon's screech above them and many more bounded off of the roof.

"Damn it, monkeys," Kitten said, upper-cutting two away from her. One jumped on her back on she ran around trying to get it off. Aqualad came up and broke its collar. It immediately got off and jumped off to somewhere else.

"Remove their collars," he told the others.

"Sounds easy when he says it," Robin said through gritted teeth, fighting off two baboons. Artemis kicked one away and shot two arrows at the ones by Robin, hitting their collars. Two monkeys came up behind Artemis without her seeing. Kitten ran up with claws extending out from her gloves. She slashed the collars. "When did you add THOSE?" Robin asked.

"About a week after you gave me the gloves," she answered. "Check this out." She raised her hand and two of the claws shot out to hit the collars of the monkeys Wally was fighting. Kitten flexed her fingers and the claws retreated back to their original positions, pulled by a very thin chain. She made a revving motion with her hands and the claws went back into the gloves. Just then, Wally turned and ran toward M'Gann, who was laying face down, the gorilla standing over her. He had one hand on her back and the other was holding a rather large cannon blaster.

"Get your paws off her, you darn dirty ape," Wally said, speeding towards the pair. He launched himself into the gorilla's chest but was bounced back onto the ground, skidding a couple yards. When M'Gann could stand, she levitated the ape into the wall, crushing it and sending him flying inside. The young heroes all followed her into the building to see Captain Marvel strapped to a table, a tiger laying on the ground, and The Brain. "It's The Brain!"

"I can see it's a brain," Artemis commented.

"No, not A brain, The Brain," Wally replied.

"In the flesh, so to speak," The Brain said. It spoke with a French accent. "Mallah," it said to the ape, which had gotten up. The ape pressed a button on a control device. Six rods came up from the ground, circling The Team. The pulse they emitted made everyone within the circle fall down, but they did not lose consciousness.

'Miss Martian, Superboy, now,' Aqualad said in their heads. M'Gann levitated the control device over to above her head and used her mind powers to deactivate the pulse rods. As everyone was getting up, Superboy crashed through the walls followed by a huge, white wolf. The wolf pounced on Mallah, as the ape was called, knocking him down. The Team unleashed a multitude of attacks on Mallah as he shot around the room with his huge gun. The only person he actually hit was Superboy, but it only pushed him back a bit. Meanwhile, Aqualad was fighting The Brain, who was shooting laser beams at him, missing each time. Aqualad went over to Captain Marvel and broke the collar off, who, in turn, broke the collar off of the tiger they had seen earlier. Soon, The Team had the two surrounded.

Mallah let out a huge roar. "Try it. I hate monkeys," Superboy said, cracking his knuckles.

"No, Mallah; this will not be OUR Waterloo," The Brain said. Something extended from The Brain's sides. "_Au revoir_, _mes amis_," he said.

"Get down!" Wally shouted. Everyone hit the floor. The lights went out. When they came back on, Mallah and The Brain were both gone. "Wait. That big weapon thing was…a light-switch?" The walk back to the bio-ship was quiet until Artemis asked Wally something.

"What are you grinning about?"

"One word: Souvenir," he replied, putting on Mallah's beret.

"Tow words: Gorilla Lice," she said back.

"Wha – OH, MAN!" he shouted, pulling off the hat and holding away from his body. Kitten and Artemis doubled over in laughter, clutching their sides for breath.

Aqualad took a collar off of one last baboon. "That's the last of the collars?" Captain Marvel asked the tiger. It growled in reply. "And I can count on you to keep the other animals out of trouble?" It growled again. "Good, I'll be back for visit; promise," he said. The tiger bounded away. "I think I'll call him Mr. Tawny."

Superboy was petting the wolf's neck. "The rest of the pack is gone. What are you still doing here?" he asked it.

"I think he wants to stay with you," M'Gann replied.

"Can I keep him?"

Wally laughed. "First, the sphere and now, this beast; dude, you sure make a habit of collecting strays," he commented.

"I think it's because he's such a stray himself," M'Gann replied.

"Well, he's gonna need a name. How's about Krypto?" Wally suggested. Even the wolf disagreed with that by growling.

"Pass," Superboy translated.

"Besides, isn't that taken?" M'Gann asked.

As Aqualad was walking onto the bio-ship, he was stopped by Kitten and Robin. "I gotta ask: why did you keep the mole Intel a secret?" Robin asked, even he already knew the answer.

"The source of the tip was Sportsmaster," Aqualad explained.

"What?" Artemis exclaimed. "You can't trust HIM!"

"I do not. It seemed possible, even likely, that he was attempting to divide The Team with false information," he continued.

"And given how this mission went, he nearly succeeded," Robin added, grabbing onto Kitten's hand.

"But you had to consider it might be true," she commented.

"Yes, as leader, I did, in which case I did not wish to alert the traitor," Aqualad answered.

"I hate to say it, but…it makes sense," Robin said.

"I am still prepared to step down," Aqualad said.

"All in favor of keeping Aqualad as leader," Wally called out. Everyone raised their hands. Robin even smiled. Aqualad nodded.

Kitten ran forward to hug him and he returned it. Captain Marvel came over as they separated and put a hand on Aqualad's shoulder. "I guess it's unanimous," he said. They shook hands and Captain Marvel began to walk off. "See you tomorrow," he said, waving.

"You're not coming back with us?" Aqualad asked.

"Nope; gotta fly," he replied, taking off.

As everyone boarded the ship, M'Gann asked Superboy, "So, what are you gonna call him?"

"What's wrong with Wolf?" he replied.

"Generic, but acceptable," Wally commented.

"I like it," Kitten said. She was behind Superboy and M'Gann. As she passed Aqualad, she put a hand on his shoulder, just as she did earlier in the day. He looked at her and she smiled. He smiled and nodded, and they boarded the ship.

**Just for clarifying, Aqualad is kinda like a big brother to Kitten. Conner is a bit distant, Robin is her adoptive brother and boyfriend, and Wally is her second closest friend. Artemis is her closest friend, kinda like a sister. M'Gann is a bit more distant, but not as distant as Conner.**

**So, what'd you guys think? Also, I won't update the story until I get at least 10 reviews. This is going to be the rule for all of my chapters from now on. After I publish a new chapter, I won't put up the next until I get 10 more reviews for the story.**

**The next chapter will most likely be Revelation, a.k.a. Episode 14. I say most likely because I don't know if I'm going to write a fluff chapter or something.**


	14. Author's Note 1

Hey guys. I'm gonna get right to the point. I'm kinda disappointed.

I tell you guys that I need ten reviews if you want the next chapter, but only three people reviewed the last chapter. If more people don't review, I don't post more chapters.

Also, I need another OC. I want Aqualad to have a love interest because Tula is with Garth. Also, I need it to be a girl because, while I have no problem with homosexuality, Aqualad doesn't swing that way. So…here's a template:

Full name:

Nickname(s):

Hero name:

Good or bad:

Mentor and how the two are related:

Powers, abilities, weapons:

Fighting style:

Hometown:

If Gotham, what school:

Also for Gotham, what kind of home:

Appearance

Skin color:

Hair color:

Eye color:

Height

Costume:

Stealth Tech, if any:

Arctic Camouflage:

Civilian clothes:

Parents:

Siblings:

Descriptions if they live in Gotham:

Friends:

Personality:

Likes:

Dislikes:

Favorites (flower, food, music, etc.):

Hobbies:

Quirks (those random things that people do):

Interests (don't have to be hobbies):

Good points:

Faults:

Other:

Thank you for your submissions! Please, I'm begging you to review the chapters!


	15. Revelation

**Hello. It's time for the next chapter. I've changed my mind. You guys don't HAVE to leave reviews. I love you guys too much. Plus, I couldn't help starting to write this next chapter. Kitten will have a pretty big part in this, unlike the previous chapters where all she did was comment, explode, and do lovey stuff with Robin. Please enjoy the story. The civilian outfit she's wearing at the beginning, I haven't really made yet, so you'll just have to imagine it.**

**I got a lot of reviews and some great heroes. Keep them coming. I really like your ideas, so please, don't stop. I really need more heroines and maybe a few heroes. Please, don't be afraid to submit your OCs.**

**Warning: Slight Kitten and Robin fluffiness**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice. I only own my OC, Kitten, and her part in the plot.**

Kitten stood by the side of the sparring ring, watching Robin and Aqualad fight. They were dressed in their civilian clothes. Kaldur wore a black and blue navy pull-over with dark jeans and sandals. Robin wore a black t-shirt, a blue jacket, dark jeans, black sneakers, and his sunglasses. Kitten wore a red cut-off tank top, displaying her fake "SEXY" tattoo on her stomach, a black, short-sleeved, zip-up hoodie, black skinny jeans, red high-tops, her red and black striped arm-warmers, and shades pretty much identical to Robin's.

As Megan and Conner walked in with Wolf, the boys stopped fighting, and Kitten walked up next to Robin. He put his arm around her shoulder, and she, in turn, wrapped her arms around his torso and leaned her head on his shoulder. Megan smiled at the two before smiling at Conner, who smiled back. _It looks like he doesn't need those emotion coaching sessions after all_, Kitten thought. They, too, were wearing civilian clothes.

Megan wore a light, lavender top, and a dark, purple, short cardigan, a skirt with a color identical to the cardigan, knee-high socks, brown shoes, and a purple headband. Conner wore his usual black t-shirt with the red Superman shield, a pair of blue jeans, and his black combat boots.

Aqualad walked over to Kitten and Robin. "You know their a couple, right?" Robin asked in a whisper.

"I believe I knew before they did," Aqualad replied. Then Wally and Artemis walked in wearing THEIR civilian clothes. Artemis wore a white tank top that showed her belly button, a brown jacket with the sleeves rolled up, and dark jeans tucked into black, knee-high boots. Wally wore a white, long-sleeved shirt under a light blue, unbuttoned, short-sleeved shirt, brown pants, and red shoes.

"Do we tell them?" Kitten asked, referring to Artemis and Wally.

"It is not our place," Kaldur answered.

"So if Zatara's our babysitter of the week, why is HE still here?" Wally asked, pointing to Captain Marvel. "And why is he eating my snacks?"

"Recognized: Batman – 02," the computer said as Batman stepped out of the Zeta Tubes.

"Computer, National News," he said and a holographic screen came up in the middle of the sparring ring. The Team and the three Justice League members gathered around the screen to hear and see Cat Grant's report.

"The initial attack was short-lived, but Metropolis was only granted a short reprieve." As she described the attack and the Justice League trying to stop it, clips were shown of giant plants crushing buildings and League members saving citizens and cutting the plant a bit.

"Should we get out there?" Robin asked.

"Please, Batman?" Kitten pleaded.

"No, the League will soon have the situation under control. That's not why I'm here. According to your intel, Sportsmaster supplied Cadmus Blockbuster formula to Kobra," he said.

"Who combined it with Bane's venom to create Kobra venom," Wally added.

"Which The Brain used to create his animal army," Robin and Kitten said at the same time.

"And upgrade Wolf," Conner commented, petting said canine under the chin.

"The Brain also used inhibitor collars, like the ones at Belle Reve Penitentiary," Megan said.

"Batman," Artemis spoke up. "Is it possible that plant thing is on Kobra venom, too?"

"I had Green Lantern run a spot analysis," he said, bringing up a holographic keyboard. "The vine's cellulose DOES contain trace amounts of a Kobra Venom variant."

"These cannot be coincidences," Aqualad concluded. "Unrelated criminals are operating with one another worldwide." As he talked, Robin brought up his own holographic keyboard. He and Kitten typed at simultaneously, as if sharing the same mind and knowing what the other was typing.

"Exactly," Batman confirmed. "It's now clear our enemies have formed some kind of…Secret Society of Super-Villains. The attack on Metropolis is only the beginning."

"Got that right," Robin said.

"Plant creatures have sprouted in Gotham city, Paris, Star City, Taipei –," Kitten listed, screen popping up displaying each city's "new resident". She was interrupted by all five screens going to static.

"Guys," Wally complained.

"It's not us," Kitten said, she and Robin going back to typing.

"Someone's cutting into the satellite signal," Robin explained.

"All satellite signals," Kitten added. They looked up just in time to see the Joker's grinning face on all the screens. Kitten yelped in fear at seeing the man who had burned her house down and killed her parents. She tensed up, and Robin wrapped his arm around her shoulder, holding her close. The Joker tapped on the glass of the camera, as if testing if it was on.

"Ladies and gentleman, we interrupt your regularly scheduled mayhem to bring you this… (He brought out a jackknife and flicked it open)…important announcement… (The camera panned to where six other villains were standing)…from the IN-Justice League." He laughed. His voice was much deeper than when Kitten had heard it running away from her burning house.

"WE are responsible for the attacks on your cities. If you wish to save them, a ransom of ten billion (10,000,000,000) American dollars is required. Delivery instructions have been sent to the United Nations. There is no time limit, but the longer your governments wait…" Count Vertigo said. He had a thick Russian accent. When he finished that last part, cutting himself off, the camera panned back to the Joker.

"The more we get to have our…jollies." He laughed again, leaning closer to the camera until it went to static again. Kitten was positively shaking in Robin's arms. There were silent tears running down her face.

"Roger that, Aquaman; the UN will prepare the ransom as a fall-back, but it WON'T come to that," Batman said into his earpiece. Only then did he notice Kitten crying. "Kitten, what's wrong?" Everyone looked at her. Instead of answering, she just shook her head and ran out of the room. She heard Artemis say something to Batman and two pairs of feet chasing after her. They weren't trying to catch up with her. They were only trying to keep up until she had worn herself out.

After a while, she slumped down into a cushiony chair in the library, panting and with tears still streaming down her cheeks. A few seconds later, Robin and Artemis came in, panting as well. Robin walked over to Kitten's chair and picked her up bridal style. He sat down in the chair with Kitten sideways on his lap, her head against his shoulder. Artemis sat down on the arm rest opposite Kitten and reached out to rub her back. She shook with her silent sobs. Robin bent down and kissed each of her tears away. When she stopped crying and had composed herself, Kitten got off of Robin, and the three walked back to where the rest of The Team was waiting for them.

Robin went back to stand behind his holographic keyboard. Kitten stood in front of Artemis, who was rubbing the knots out of her friend's shoulders. The video rewound to the shot of the six other villains, a red frame appearing around each of their faces. "Count Vertigo, the Joker, Poison Ivy, Ultra Humanite, Atomic Skull, Black Adam, Wotan," Robin listed.

"Seven heavy-hitters; probably behind nearly everyone and everything we've faced," Kitten added.

"There's your secret society," Wally said.

"Not so secret anymore," Artemis said as she finished up massaging Kitten's shoulders.

"Perhaps after India, they realized we would deduce the truth and saw no point in hiding anymore," Aqualad guessed.

"Yeah," Wally asked. "That was THEIR mistake. Right now, I say we go kick some plant creature butt."

"The Justice League will handle the plants," Batman said. "I have a different job for this team."

"Oh, man," Wally said. Artemis hit his arm, and Kitten hit his other.

"The plants attacking so many locations simultaneously; there must be a central control system. Your mission is to destroy it."

"You realize what you're really asking them to do?" Zatara asked, walking up to Batman.

"They're ready."

"Ready; ready for what?" Wally asked. Artemis and Kitten hit his arms again. "Ow, will you cut that –?" he was cut off by Artemis.

"Hello, Wally, if the big guns are fighting the plants, who do you think WE'LL be fighting?"

"I don't know. I guess we'll –," he was cut off again by Kitten pointing forward. When he saw the screen again, he finally understood.

"Well, Batman, I trust you're correct," Zatara said.

"I trust YOU can locate the enemy," he replied.

"Indeed, Wotan's involvement suggests sorcery in how the plants are controlled. Robin, if you would provide a holo-map…" he trailed off. Robin went to typing, pulling up a holographic globe. "I'll search for signs of concentrated sorcerers' activity." He walked up to the map and said a spell. A red dot appeared on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. "There; THAT is where you will find the Injustice League's central control system."

"Coordinates are locked in: the Louisiana Bayou," Robin stated.

"We are on our way," Aqualad said. With that, The Team ran off for the bio-ship. As soon as they were on board, they activated their Stealth Tech if they had it installed on their uniforms.

The trip to Louisiana was quiet until Wally just had to ask, "So, Kit, what happened between you and the Joker that's got you so freaked?" Robin was sending glares at his friend and looked as if he wanted to hit the speedster. Kitten, however, had paled as everyone looked at her for an answer.

"He killed my parents," she said. Her voice was barely audible. Everyone was silent as she told her story. "He burned down my house several years ago. I lived on the streets for three years before someone found me. They took me in and trained me. I became Kitten. But after awhile, I realized I couldn't be there anymore. I gave up Kitten for two months, living on the streets again, until Batman found me. And here I am."

"So, who was the person that took you in?" Wally asked.

"I'll tell you guys the full story when we get back to Mount Justice."

"Okay then; Aqualad, what's in the duffel?" Wally questioned.

"Plan B," Aqualad replied. Just then, Miss Martian appeared to get a kind of headache.

"Are you alright?" Superboy asked.

"Dizzy," was all he got in reply.

"Martians get airsick?" Robin wondered.

"She does look a bit greener than usual," Wally commented.

"Not me, her," Miss Martian said.

"I feel fine," Artemis said. Everyone looked to Kitten.

"Don't look at me; I'm fine."

"Not them, but the bio-ship; she's trying to shield us but –," she cut herself off, holding her head. Suddenly, they felt something hit the ship and they were spinning through the air. They landed in the swamp. Thick tentacle-like things came out of the water and started dragging the bio-ship down. A hole appeared in the top of the ship, revealing Black Adam's face. "He's hurting her." Superboy leapt up and gave the villain a nice punch in the jaw, sending him flying backwards. Water started to gush through the hole Black Adam had ripped in the hull of the ship.

Kitten and Robin each pulled out a rebreather and dove under. Soon, the whole ship was filled with water. M'Gann opened a hole in the bottom of the ship. "Out, everyone out," Aqualad said. They all swam through the hole and up towards the surface. They made it up onto a small strip of land just in time to look through some trees to see the bio-ship sink.

"She's in shock. She'll need time to recover," M'Gann reported. Just as she finished saying this, some force gave everyone, including Wolf, a huge migraine. They all collapsed. Wally looked up to see Count Vertigo.

"Vertigo," Wally said.

"That's COUNT Vertigo to you, peasant," said villain replied. Superboy got up to give him a good punch in the face but was intercepted by Black Adam. Black Adam punched Superboy in the face.

Aqualad pulled some water from the swamp with his Water-bearers and pushed Count Vertigo back. '_Robin, Kitten, Miss Martian, disappear. We will keep them busy._' Miss Martian went into camouflage mode and Robin and Kitten melted into the shadows.

They walked through the trees. Robin had his holographic map up. Kitten stayed off to the side, mulling something over in her thoughts. '_I've lost contact with Aqualad and the others. Should we try to –?_' Miss Martian said in her head. She was cut off by Robin.

'_Sorry, that's not the gig_,' he said. '_This is; the Injustice League central control system._' He gestured ahead of himself and they saw a building with a large glass dome over the top. It was in triangular sections. And there was a huge plant growing out of the top.

'_It looks like Spaceship Earth at Epcot_,' Kitten thought with a smile, remembering the time her parents took her to Walt Disney World in Florida. Her smile immediately fell at the thought of her parents.

'_It looks like THAT plant is acting as an antenna to control the other plants worldwide_,' Robin observed.

Kitten was about to say something but heard a voice behind them speak first. "Well, hello," Poison Ivy said. Kitten watched as Robin and Miss Martian were wrapped in thick vines that had come up from the ground. She also saw Ultra Humanite appear by Poison Ivy's side with a very large gun in his hands. Kitten remained unnoticed by the villains, so she shrunk back into the shadows, staying quiet.

Ultra Humanite aimed the gun at Robin and then Miss Martian. Poison Ivy said something, but Kitten couldn't hear what it was. M'Gann used her telepathic powers to make Ultra Humanite's gun point at the vines near the ground, the very ones that were suspending the two heroes above the ground. They quickly separated.

As Robin ran, Poison Ivy raised her arms. "Sorry, Boy Wonder, but I'm putting an end to your little Reconnaissance mission." Wherever he stepped, plants came up chasing him around the trees. He used branches to swing around and dodge, but it could only do so much. Kitten brought out her disc, quickly changing it to a grappling hook with a loose, metallic rope. She threw the hook around a branch and swung. As she swung on her rope, she extended her claws and cut the vines that were chasing Robin. When she was done, she climbed to the top of the rope and unhooked it. She somersaulted down next Robin and ran with to him. "Who are you?" Poison Ivy shouted at her. She didn't answer, but instead collapsed her grappling hook back into a disc and snapped it onto her back.

Kitten and Robin ran, dodging the vines when they were both tripped. They slid through the mud. When they got up, they were faced with a mass of plants. All of a sudden, they exploded. They looked at each other, knowing it was Miss Martian's doing. '_Robin, Kitten, she's made contact_,' M'Gann said.

'_Artemis?_' they asked at the same time.

'_No_,' she said. '_Come on._' They climbed up to the roof of the dome. Robin handed Kitten a couple handfuls of exploding shurikens.

'_Throw these at the plant_,' he said. She nodded and they did a full circle around the plant, throwing the shurikens and letting them get stuck in the surface. They met up on the side, getting ready for the explosion. When the explosion came, they were anticipating it and were able to dodge most of the debris. Poison Ivy was in shock.

Kitten and Robin looked at each other and back at Ivy. "Timber," they said together. Poison Ivy attacked them with plants that came up from the ground. M'Gann steeped in front of them out of nowhere and made the plants explode with her telekinesis. She was blasted out of the sky by Atomic Skull. Robin jumped down off of the roof to avoid the same attack. Atomic Skull chased him down as Kitten hid among the smoke. The Joker was on the roof as well. She needed her revenge.

"Children; children foiled our plan," she heard him say. "Inconceivable, unacceptable, retributionable; that last one might not be a word, so sue me." He didn't get a chance to say anything else because Kitten had leapt at him and kicked him across the face. He looked up at her as she pinned him to the dome and punched him in the face over and over. She had his arms pinned down so he couldn't fight back.

"How about them apples?" she asked. He laughed which infuriated her more. "You killed my parents! You burned my house down! You threatened my new family! You will pay!" She punctuated each sentence with a punch. All he did was laugh more. Eventually, she picked him up by the lapels of his jacket and tossed him off the dome onto the ground.

He, being the asshole he was, landed on his feet. She dove at him, but he dodged out of the way, laughing. As the other heroes, who had apparently escaped, were engaged in their own battles, Kitten and the Joker were focused solely on each other. She removed her disc from her back once again and shaped the scales into a bo-staff as they circled one another. The Joker brought out his two jackknives and flicked them open. Kitten ran at him, twirling her staff above her head with both hands. She swung the bo-staff down, trying to hit him, but he leaned to the side to dodge it. He attempted to stab her with one of his jackknives. She managed to block his hand by swatting it down with her staff. He tried to stab her with his other arm, but she swatted it away again. She kicked her leg up high, kicking the Joker in the face. He stumbled back, holding his jaw and smiling.

"Enough," Wotan said from above them. Robin tried throwing two exploding shurikens at him, but they were avoided with a magic shield. Wotan sent beams of lightning at everyone, including Wolf. Everyone was knocked down except for Aqualad, who was absorbing the beams from both himself and Miss Martian. He said something to her, but Kitten couldn't hear it. She couldn't see either; she had her eyes closed from the pain of the electricity. Soon, it stopped and she looked over at Aqualad, who was holding what she heard Wotan call "the Helmet of Fate".

"No, Aqualad, don't," Wally yelled, but was knocked out of the way and into a tree by Black Atom, who, once again, received a punch to the face from Superboy. Kitten heard a crunch as Wally hit the tree. Kaldur put on the Helmet and turned into Dr. Fate. Wally got up, holding his arm. Kaldur, as Dr. Fate, flew up to Wotan.

"Wotan, you are mine," he said. Wotan tried to shoot an energy beam at him, but Dr. Fate fired his own beam, which was stronger and it cut through Wotan's like butter. Kitten watched as the beam pushed Wotan up against the dome and wrapped magic chains around him, holding him to the spot.

She turned back around to face the Joker again to find he was gone and headed towards Robin, who was still kneeling on the ground. "Wonder boy, you are mine," the Joker said in a deep voice, opening up a jackknife. He laughed at his own imitation of Dr. Fate. He started slashing at Robin. Robin, on the other hand, was dodging as best he could. He did a back-handspring away from the Joker before Kitten decided to intervene. "I've always wanted to carve this bird." The Joker brought out a second knife and ran at Robin. Kitten sent one claw from each hand to wrap around the Joker's waist, stopping him. She sent another claw from each hand around his arms to prevent him from slashing anything. Each of his knives was knocked from his hands by two…Batarangs. They looked up to see Batman, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Aquaman floating down on a green platform thanks to Green lantern, preceded by Captain Marvel and Superman. Soon, The Team and the Justice League had the Injustice League surrounded.

"It's over," Batman said. All of the villains except for the Joker raised their hands in surrender.

"There will be another day," Count Vertigo said.

"Another day…ANOTHER DAY…There won't be another day, NOT FOR ANY OF US!" the Joker shouted. As he laughed, he raised his hands, still with his control gloves on, and vines were raised out of the water. These ones, though, had pods on them like flower-buds. The pods opened to release a thick gas.

"Joker Venom spores; don't breathe," Batman commanded. He punched the Joker in the face, knocking him to the ground.

"Fear not," Dr. Fate said, rising up from behind the cloud. A cross appeared in front of him, absorbing the gas. "Fate has intervened."

Later, after the Injustice League was taken to Arkham Asylum and other prisons, The Team was standing outside the domed building with Captain Marvel, Aquaman, Batman, and Zatara. "What were you thinking?" Wally shouted. "How could you let him put on the Helmet? Nabu will never release him now. Kaldur will be trapped inside Dr. Fate forever." Aqualad pulled off the Helmet of Fate. Wally walked up to him. "Nabu let you go?"

"He almost did not. Your friend, Kent, was most helpful, though. He says hello," Aqualad said with a smile at the end. Wally smiled back.

"We're done here," Batman said. "The Super-Villain Secret Society has been neutralized. As for your performance…it was satisfactory." The Team looked at each other with smiles on their faces. Kitten's smile soon dropped and she walked over to Robin. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head. He knew she was thinking about the Joker.

The ride back to Mount Justice was quiet. No one really wanted to talk, but they were all pretty content with Batman's comment on their "satisfactory" performance. When they all got back to the cave, they took one look at each other and truly realized how muddy they all were. They all cracked up laughing before poking fun at each other. They all walked off to the showers, the girls and boys separating to their respective locker rooms. After they were done, they all changed back into their civilian clothes. Kitten wore the same outfit from earlier, as did Robin, Artemis, Kaldur, and Conner. Megan was dressed in blue now instead of purple, and Wally wore only a short-sleeved shirt instead of two. He also had his arm in a cast rather than in a makeshift sling.

Wally asked, "So who was it that found you on the streets?" Everyone looked to Kitten, who tensed up.

"It was Catwoman," she whispered. Everyone looked shocked. She noticed this, but before anyone could start blaming her for anything, she ran out of the room, crying, for the second time that day. This time, though, no one followed her.

She found herself in the "Souvenir Room". She walked over to the shelf of souvenirs that Wally had collected. _They'll never want me back now_, she thought sadly. _I'm just as bad as Catwoman herself. They probably think I'm the mole. I mean, who wouldn't think that? I come here under Batman's protection, right before Aqualad gets news about there being a mole in The Team. Now, I drop the bomb that I was trained by Catwoman. What is wrong with me? I practically just betrayed my best friends._

"Hey there," a voice said behind her, bringing her out of her thoughts. She gasped and whirled around, startled, to find a guy standing a few yards away from her with a smirk on his face. He had a red and black sleeveless shirt, black pants, shoes, and fingerless gloves, and a red quiver on his back filled with arrows with red feathers. He also had a domino mask like Robin and Kitten, but had orange hair like Wally. _He's quite muscular and good-looking_, Kitten noted. _It's a shame that I have a boyfriend._ "Who are you?"

"Huh," she said.

"Who are you?" His smirk had dropped, and he seemed to be getting slightly annoyed that she wasn't paying attention.

"I'm Kitten," she said carefully. "Who are you?"

"I'm Red Arrow," he replied, his smirk once again gracing his face.

**So, what did you think? Anyways, I've decided to be nice, as I have way too many ideas floating around in my head and too little impatience to wait for ten reviews on a chapter. No need to review, but just keep in mind, the more you do, the better the story will be.**


	16. Date Night

**I didn't really want to show how Red Arrow and Kitten got acquainted, but if enough people request it, I will post another "Flashback Chapter". Also, let's just assume that the rest of The Team still accepts Kitten, they aren't mad at her, etc. Anyways, I had this idea for a Robin and Kitten date night that I just HAD to get out. Please forgive me.**

**Warning: Olivia/Dick or Rachel/Dick fluff**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice. I only own Kitten and her part in the plot. I also own Fuze, the 13 and up dance club.**

Rachel and Dick were lying on his bed. He had his hands behind his head in a relaxed position, and she was curled up against his chest. They looked ready for bed with their pajamas on, but they were far from tired. "How come we've never gone on a real date?" Rachel suddenly asked. Dick looked down at her, confused, and she looked back up at him.

"I don't know. What do you want to do? Where and when do you want to go?" he asked.

"I want to go to Fuze," she replied.

Fuze was Gotham's only 13 and up dance club. There were three floors. The main floor was for the younger teens, ages 13 to 17. The second floor was for legal adults that couldn't drink, ages 18 to 20. The third floor is for anyone with special access. It was the only drinking floor, but it had no age limit. You needed a special pass to get in, and once you were in, you could drink, no matter what your age was.

"Of course," Dick whispered to himself. "I'll see what I can do." He had "special" connections with some of the sleazier kids at Gotham Academy. They would certainly be able to hook him up with those passes.

"Thanks, Dick," Rachel said with a smile, quickly falling asleep on his chest. He soon followed, snoring lightly.

The next day, during lunch, Dick snuck away, saying he had to use the restroom. H e snuck outside to find the guys he was looking for. They looked at him and back at each other with crooked smiles on their faces. "What can we do for you, Grayson?"

He kept a perfectly straight face as he said, "I need two all-access passes to the third floor of Fuze."

"It'll cost you some pretty big bucks," one told him.

"I don't care, just tell me how much they are," he was getting impatient, and his time frame was running out.

"$100 each," the tallest kid said. Dick gave him the money, and he was handed two lanyards with the passes attached at the ends.

"Thank you, boys; it was a pleasure doing business with you." He carefully put the passes into his pocket and walked calmly back to lunch, as if he didn't just get the most coveted item for their age group. These passes meant a lot to certain people. He had them.

Dick made it back to lunch without arousing suspicion. He sat back down beside Olivia and put his arm around her as she talked to her friends. They were sitting with Barbara, Bette, and Artemis, as well as a few of their guy friends. Dick leaned in close to whisper to Rachel. "Guess who has access to the third level of Fuze." He leaned back with a smirk as he watched her puzzle over it for a moment before realization dawned on her face. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him.

"Dude, what did you say?" one of Artemis's guy friends, Zeke, asked.

"I just told her we were going to see her favorite band Friday night."

"Friday, as in the day two days from now?" she asked, astonished. Dick turned to look at her and nodded. As she hugged him again, he turned back to look at the rest of the group.

"I may have left out the Friday part," he said with a smirk.

For the next two days, Olivia was as bouncy and jittery as a squirrel combined with a rabbit. You could see excitement written across her face. You would have thought it was laughable if you weren't one of her closest friends. It was just plain annoying to them. Dick, of course, was happy that his girlfriend was excited.

Come Friday evening, there was a knock on the front door of the manor. Dick and Olivia looked up from what they were watching on Dick's laptop as Alfred opened the door. Their friends from school were on the doorstep. Alfred waved them in, and they stood in front of Dick and Olivia.

"Hey, guys, what are you doing here?" Olivia asked. It wasn't everyday that your friends barge into your house unannounced.

Barbara stepped forward and said, "We're here to help you two get ready for your first real date. You didn't think you were getting away from us that easy, did you?" The couple shrugged their shoulders and stood up. They were quickly engulfed into two groups, boys and girls respectively.

Once they were in Olivia's room, the girls abandoned her and raided her closet for a good ten minutes before she stopped them. "Before you do any more damage to my favorite arm-warmers – (She grabbed them from Artemis.) – I think you should know the truth. We're not really going to a concert. Dick is taking me to Fuze at eight, third level." The other girls looked shocked. "So, relax. We still have two hours."

"Why are you telling us to relax?" Barbara asked. "You are going to the most exclusive date spot in Gotham, we only have two hours to get you ready, and you're telling us to relax? Honey, when you're getting ready for a date, hours go by like minutes. Now come help us. We need to pick out an outfit for you. You absolutely HAVE to look totally sexy if you want to catch Dick's attention and keep it for more than five seconds." Olivia rolled her eyes and walked into her closet, tossing out the pieces she thought they would approve of. She tossed them all of her tights, all of her pairs of heels, all her sexiest outfits, and more.

They ended up picking a fitting red dress with black halter straps, black lace trim at the neckline and hem, and a small black heart right over where her heart would be. The dress gave her more cleavage and barely covered her butt. She put the dress on over a pair of sheer, red tights and paired the combo with a pair of brown, sandal-like, wedge heels, a black band around her waist with a red, studded belt over it, a pair of black, lace, fingerless gloves that went to her elbows, and a cord choker necklace with a red stone. Someone had brought their hair straightener, so they straightened Olivia's hair and pulled it into a messy bun, leaving her bangs out. They touched up her makeup and sprayed her with a bit of perfume before deeming her suitable for her date. And they finished just in time, too, because it was time for Dick and Olivia to leave.

Their friends pushed them out of their rooms at the same time and shut the doors behind them with smiles on their faces. Dick's face as he looked his girlfriend over was priceless. He was wearing black, fitted jeans, black converse, and an un-tucked, red button-up shirt with the first few buttons undone. His hair was messed up, but still kinda neat. He looked positively sexy. The door to Olivia's room opened and Barbara handed her a small clutch whose contents included her cell phone, her wallet, a tube of lip gloss, and other "girl essentials". Dick already had everything he needed in his pockets.

Olivia smiled, grabbed Dick's hand, and dragged him towards the back door of the manor, shouting to their friends, "If you guys aren't gone in the next half hour, I'm having Alfred kick you out, whether you're ready or not!" They laughed as the couple ran out the back door, where their ride was waiting.

It was Dick's motorcycle. Sure, he was only 13, but he had a license. It wasn't like he'd never ridden a motorcycle as Robin. He knew how they worked. Besides, in New York, you can see some pretty crazy stuff. Also, with that outfit, he could easily pass for 16, if not older.

Dick handed her a helmet, put his own helmet on, and climbed on the bike. Olivia put on her helmet and climbed on behind him. She wrapped her arms around his middle, the clutch hanging from her wrist. The engine roared to life, and soon, they were off. They were at the nightclub in a matter of minutes. Dick parked the bike in the third level reserved parking, showing the security guard there their passes. They climbed off and took off their helmets.

Now, their roles were reversed. Olivia was the scared one, and Dick was ready to party. He grabbed her hand and dragged her to the private entrance from the reserved parking to the exclusive third level of the Fuze Nightclub.

When they got inside, they broke out into huge grins. They were going where almost no other 13-year-old had gone before. The song that had been playing when they walked in faded to another track, which they both recognized. It was LoveGame by Lady Gaga. Olivia pulled Dick onto the floor to start dancing.

She raised her arms above her head and swayed her hips to the beat. She had her eyes closed and her head tilted down and to the side. As her hips moved, so would her head. The song wasn't even halfway over before she started getting frisky.

She walked up to Dick as he was dancing and put her right hand on his left shoulder. Her other hand traveled up the back of his neck into his hair. His hands were on her waist as she pulled herself to him. Her mouth brushed against the base of his neck on the left side as she mouthed along to the lyrics of the song. His cologne was intoxicating. Dick shivered with a smile on his face. They were still swaying to the beat of the song. The hand that had been holding Dick's hair moved down to his free shoulder.

Only when the song got to the bridge did Olivia pull away, but only slightly. Dick looked at her and moved his right hand up from her hip to her cheek. Knowing where the gesture was headed, Olivia connected their lips. Dick kissed back eagerly. They made out until the end of the song.

Just as the next song was starting, (Britney Spears's I'm a Slave 4 U) Olivia quickly backed away from Dick to find the bar. However, he was anticipating this and followed her, sitting next to her on the stools. They both ordered a soda, wanting to start off slow with the drinking.

By the time they were done, Olivia was ready to dance again. They made their way onto the floor as the next song was starting (Buttons – Pussycat Dolls). They danced and they drank. At one point, they were both a bit tipsy as they danced to Paralyzer by Finger Eleven. Olivia's back was pressed up against Dick's chest, his hands were on her waist, her hands were back on his shoulders, and her head was back against his right shoulder. Their hips moved to the beat as Dick kissed along Olivia's neck, her jaw-line, and her ear.

It was about midnight, and they were still at Fuze. They had slowed down with the alcohol until they were sober enough to go home. They walked out of the club holding hands. Once or twice, Olivia would run a little ahead, dropping Dick's hand, until he caught up to her with his arms around her waist and kissing her as she wrapped her arms around his neck to kiss back. They finally made it to Dick's motorcycle, where they put on their helmets and rode home.

Rachel dragged Dick inside and up to her room. They collapsed on the bed and just barely pulled the covers over themselves before they fell asleep.

The next morning, Rachel woke up to an empty bed and sunlight shining through the curtains of her bay window. The light hit the red wall of her room, reflecting the color throughout the rest of the room. She got up, grabbed some clothes, and went to grab a shower. When she was done, she realized she had a very small headache, so small, it wasn't hard to believe she didn't feel it earlier. She got dressed in one of her favorite casual outfits. She wore dark denim jeans, a red lace camisole, and a black poncho. She wore black and red striped socks, but no shoes. She pulled her hair into a side ponytail. She walked downstairs to the kitchen to try and get something to eat, but she saw a note on the refrigerator. "_Rachel, I made you some scrambled eggs with cheese, just the way you like them. They're in the microwave, so you just need to heat them up. There's also some Gatorade in the fridge. Help yourself. I'm at the mall if you need me. Love, Dick_," the note said.

Rachel smiled and pressed the reheat button on the microwave. She saw the appliance light up and the eggs start turning inside. She went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of Riptide Rush (her favorite flavor of Gatorade) and the ketchup. When the eggs were done, she grabbed a fork from the drawer and the plate from the microwave. She squeezed the ketchup directly onto the eggs and mixed it in with her fork. She took a bite, sighing contentedly at the amazing flavor combination. She took a swig of Gatorade before moving to the dining room table to finish eating. When she finished, she put her plate and fork in the sink in the kitchen and threw her empty bottle in the recycling bin.

She grabbed her red converse, her purse, her coat, and the keys to her own motorcycle. Dick had reluctantly taught her how to drive one, and after a few weeks, she too had her license. Of course, still only being a beginner, she could only drive alone during the daylight.

She drove to the mall, finding Dick's motorcycle and parking hers in the same space. She walked in and texted Dick to meet her in food court. He was there in ten minutes, finding her quickly and greeting her with a kiss. They walked around, buying things they wanted until they were ready to go home. Rachel lifted up the seat of her motorcycle to open the "trunk" and put her bags in there. Dick did the same with his motorcycle, and they rode back home.

They sat in Rachel's room, listening to music while doing some of the things they love. Rachel was drawing, and Dick was reading in a different language. When Rachel was done, she sat down next to Dick and looked at the book. "Would you care to teach me?" she asked.

"I'd love to," he replied. By the end of the day, Rachel could read the first two chapters of the book, which happened to be in Chinese.

When Bruce got home, Rachel ran up to him saying, "Guess what."

"What?" he asked with a smile on his face at her excitement.

"Dick taught me how to read the first two chapters in his Chinese book."

"Cool," he said.

"I also made some new art today." She quickly ran to get her new drawing. When she got back to him, she held it up with a proud smile on her face. It was a close-up of a ladybug.

"That's amazing."

"Thanks, I was thinking of giving it to the school to use for the science labs or something."

"Yeah, forget music or writing. You should be a scientist, with those detailed drawings you make," Dick's voice said from behind her. She turned around to give Dick a one-armed hug and a kiss on the cheek. Bruce smiled at the two.

"Well, I'm going to my office," he said. "You two kids have fun." They blushed at his comment, but as soon as he was out of sight, Rachel set her drawing down and wrapped her arms around Dick's neck. His arms went around her waist, and they started making out. After about a minute, Rachel pulled away with a smile.

"I love you, Richard Grayson."

He gave her one more kiss before saying, "I love you, Rachel O'Connor."

**I wish you a Merry Christmas, everybody, or happy whatever holiday you celebrate. Remember to leave reviews and such. I'm still accepting OCs for some later chapters, so don't be afraid to submit your ideas. Also, if you want to know what happened between Kitten and Red Arrow or between her and The Team, let me know so that I can write that chapter.**


	17. Revelation Part 2

**I'm back! Thanks to those of you who reviewed my "Date Night" chapter (only a few people) and to those of you who love the story/read it all the time/recommend it to your friends and stuff/just read it. Of the 2 reviews I got, both asked for a flashback chapter of when Kitten met Red Arrow. So, here it is.**

**BTW, I'm going to start using points of view soon. I'm not going to start with this chapter, but be warned. BTW, the OC contest is still OPEN! It's always OPEN, even if you see a new OC in the story. I'm always accepting new OCs, and if I like one more than another, then I'll replace that first character or something. It all depends if I like them at first or not. Also, please start sending in MALE OCs to counteract the girl ones. Thanks people.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice. I only own Kitten/Rachel O'Connor/Olivia Smith and her part in the plot.**

"Who are you?" he asked again.

"I'm Kitten," she said carefully. "Who are you?"

"I'm Red Arrow," he said, smirking once more. "When did you join?"

"I joined in August. Are you even on The Team?"

"I kinda am, but not really. This is a team for sidekicks, which I am not. I used to be," he trailed off.

"Wait, weren't you Green Arrow's side – partner?" She was quick to correct herself, and he gave her another smirk.

"Yeah, but, as you can see, I've been replaced…by ARTEMIS." He said her name with disgust, as if he didn't want anything to do with her. "So what are you doing here, of all places?"

"Well, everyone kinda found out that there was a mole on The Team, and I just kinda revealed to everyone that, before Batman found me, I was Catwoman's partner." He looked kinda shocked, so she was quick to say, "But I'm not the mole." He narrowed his eyes, or at least it looked like he did. It was hard to tell with the mask. He stared at her for a while before taking on in almost bored expression.

"You're telling the truth, I can tell. So, you're working with Batman, now…and Robin."

"You could say that."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Robin and I are kinda…dating."

"Really? Wow, I never thought birdbrain would have enough game to get a girlfriend," he said, chuckling.

"Hey, that's my boyfriend you're talking about!"

"Aaw, calm down; I'm just teasing."

"I know, but it was mean."

"People are mean; get used to it."

"Just because other people are mean doesn't mean you have to be."

"Oh, wah."

"Ugh, you're infuriating. You know that right?"

"I never woulda known," he said sarcastically.

"Screw you, I'm leaving." She turned around to walk away.

"Where are you gonna go?" She stopped. "I mean, from what you told me earlier, they could think that you're the mole. If you go back up there, what do you think's gonna happen?"

"I don't know, so I might as well find out." With that, she walked away and back to the rest of The Team. They were arguing about something that she couldn't hear. As she got closer, she realized that they were arguing about her.

"Kitten has given me no reason to doubt her or to believe she would betray us." _Thanks, Aqualad_, she thought.

"Oh, come on, Aqualad. She was partnered with the Feline Felon! How could you trust her? Rob, you back me up with this, right?" asked Wally.

"No, I gotta go with Aqualad. Before now, you were completely willing to trust her 100%. Besides, she's my girlfriend. She told me her story before. She said that she only followed along in Catwoman's footsteps because she felt she had to in order to survive. She told me that she didn't like to steal, but if that's what put food in front of her, she was willing to help. From what she told me, Catwoman had never hurt her or kicked her out, so why give her reason to by refusing her job?" Robin explained.

"At least someone explained that," she said, startling everyone. They all turned to look at her. "Okay, yes, I helped Catwoman for a while. Yes, I live with Batman now, so I know practically everything about all of you. But Aqualad, when did you get that tip?"

"I got it in early September."

"So do you really think I would've had enough time from late August to Early September to somehow contact Sportsmaster and figure something out with him? I didn't even know who the guy was until I met Batman!" Okay, now, she was kinda pissed.

Everyone looked sorry for accusing her except for Robin and Aqualad, who looked proud of her for standing up for herself. Seeing everyone's expressions, her face softened, and she walked forward to Robin's side.

"Guys, don't worry about it. I'm not mad anymore."

"Still, we're sorry," Artemis said.

"It's fine," she reassured. "Now, who's hungry? M'Gann, do you wanna help me start making dinner?"

"Sure," the Martian replied with a small smile on her face. As they started walking away, M'Gann asked, "So, what do you wanna make?"

"I was thinking of making some Chicken Alfredo."

"That sounds delicious…what is it?"

"Basically, it is noodles with an Italian cream sauce and chopped chicken. By the way, let's make a double batch, give one to Wally." The Martian laughed along as they got to the kitchen.

An hour later, there were two heaping bowls of Chicken Alfredo. M'Gann and Kitten called everyone in to eat. After another hour, everyone was lounging around, talking and laughing with full bellies. And everything was alright.

**Yeah, I know. That was a cruddy ending. But I've kept you guys waiting for, like, three weeks. I had to get this done for you guys. Next chapter will be episode 15. I may need to rewatch it. My main tools for research and such are [ Y o u T u b e ] and [ w i k i a ]. (Remove the spaces.)**

**On another note, the new season has started, and I am PUMPED! I've already seen the three new episodes (19 through 21) and will definitely be writing chapters for each episode once I get to them.**

**For story purposes, expect a LOT of drama in the next couple of chapters between Zatanna, Robin, and Kitten.**


	18. Humanity

**This chapter is the episode Humanity. You should expect a lot of drama in this chapter, particularly at the end. I rewatched the episode that corresponds with this chapter, and I pause and play the episode as I write. I do this for every "episode chapter".**

**I've changed my mind about using different perspectives. I'm just gonna continue using third person, focused on my OC, Kitten.**

**I'm still accepting OCs, and am now accepting male OCs. The profile for "creating" the character is in the first official Author's Note of the story (the one that's actually it's own chapter).**

**I'm so excited to write a chapter for Episode 16 (Failsafe), mainly because it also has a lot of drama in it. I have big plans for that chapter…very big plans.**

**In other news, as of March 21st, I am officially 14.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice. I own my OC and her part in the plot.**

**Enjoy the story!**

Kitten jumped out of the way just as Superboy swung his fist. She jumped into the air and positioned herself with her legs straight to land on Superboy's face and kick off. He caught her foot and pushed her away, making her cannonball backwards and land in a crouch position, sliding backwards. She pushed off the ground and ran at the clone, only to be pulled into a Nelson headlock. She raised her arms straight up and slid out of Superboy's hold and kicked him in the stomach, sending him stumbling back a few paces. Just as he was about to charge at her again, Black Canary came to the ring, stopping the other two fights around them.

"Good work, everyone," Black Canary said. "In fact, it's been a very productive week."

"Yeah, for everyone except Kid Malingerer," Artemis commented, drawing a few chuckles from everyone but the speedster.

"Hey, arm broken in combat against the Injustice League, here," Wally defended, making everyone laugh more.

"I've really enjoyed being you're…uh…'den mother' this week," Black Canary said.

"Recognized: Zatara 11," said the robot voice of the Zeta Tubes as Zatara stepped out. He opened a holographic keyboard and began typing. "Access granted: Zatanna Zatara A-03, Authorization: Zatara 11," it said as the Tubes flashed again, and a girl with long black hair stepped out.

"Zatanna, this is The Team; Team, my daughter, Zatanna," Zatara said. M'Gann flew over to greet the new girl.

"Hi, I'm –," she began, but was cut off by Robin.

"Robin," he practically shouted. "I mean I'M Robin. She's Megan, and that's Wally, Artemis, Kaldur, Kitten, and Conner." Everyone nodded to her with a genuine smile, save for Kitten, who looked somewhat skeptically at her boyfriend and this new girl. Nevertheless, she faked one and nodded anyway.

"Welcome to the Cave," Kaldur said.

"Thanks," she said shyly.

"So, a-are y-y-you joining The Team?" Robin asked.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Zatara said. "This is strictly a visit." Kitten sighed in relief. "I AM sorry we missed the training. It's something from which Zatanna could benefit."

'_Do the rest of you get the impression we're still on probation with Zatara?_' M'Gann asked.

'_Not just Zatara; I mean, why is Marvel still hanging around?_' Conner added.

'_Because we like having him around,_' Wally commented.

'_YOU like having him around 'cause he waits on you hand and foot,_' Artemis replied.

'_And you're point is…_' Wally trailed off.

'_It almost makes one nostalgic for Red Tornado's tenure as our supervisor,_' Aqualad noted.

'_Yeah, at least he trusted us,_' Robin said.

'_If you ignore the fact that we shouldn't have trusted HIM; he was the traitor. That machine nearly got M – all of us killed_,' Conner ranted. Kitten noticed he was about to "M'Gann" and decided to ignore it.

'_I don't think it was him,_' Kitten piped up. Everyone turned to her. Just as she was about to explain, Zatanna spoke up.

"Are you guys having a psychic conversation?" she asked. "I can't decide if that's cool…or really rude." Kitten mumbled something as she crossed her arms and turned away.

Conner turned to see Zatara and Black Canary looking at them. "Alright, fine; we were talking about Tornado. It's been weeks since his attack, and the League hasn't told us ANYTHING," he explained.

"The League is searching for Tornado, as well as the other androids that invaded the Cave AND their creator, Tio Morrow," Black Canary said. "Batman's made tracking them down our highest priority."

"But you've found none of the above," Robin accused.

"Not yet, but Tornado is Justice League. The Team is NOT to pursue this."

"Why don't you all take Zatanna on a, uh, tour of the Cave?" Zatara asked.

"You're giving a tour? Cool," Captain Marvel said as he walked back in with a plate of nachos, most likely for Wally.

"Actually, I was hoping you'd take Wolf outside," Conner told him. "He needs the exercise. We'll join you in a few."

"Sure, sure, I can do that," he said. "Come on, Wolf."

"But – but my nachos," Wally complained, but was just as soon grabbed by Conner and pulled away.

As they walked through the Cave, Zatanna came up beside Robin, whose hand was being held on his other side by Kitten. She was wearing a completely different outfit.

"When did you…HOW did you…" he began to ask her, but was stopped by Kitten. She put his hand to his chin and closed his mouth.

"Close your mouth, honey," she said, keeping her hand on his chin. "You'll catch flies." She turned his head towards herself and gave him a small peck on the lips.

"We're not really taking a tour, are we?" Zatanna asked.

Conner and Kaldur stopped and turned around. "No," Conner answered. "We're hunting down that robot."

"Yes, we are," Kaldur confirmed.

"Oh, wow; out loud and everything," Zatanna remarked.

"What about new girl?" Kitten asked.

"I'm sure she won't tell," Robin assured.

"I can't tell; not if you kidnap me," she said.

"Oh, she's gonna fit in great," Artemis commented.

On the bio-ship, Black Canary's voice came over the communications unit. "M'Gann, the bio-ship wasn't authorized for departure."

"We're kidnapping Zatanna…to show her Happy Harbor; be back soon," she replied.

"Roger that, have fun," Black Canary said before signing off.

Later, Robin asked, "Where are we going? Batman searched for Tornado and Morrow in every logical location. If we're gonna do better, we need an illogical solution, a truly dumb idea." Everyone turned to Wally with expectant looks.

"As a matter of fact, I have one already," Wally said. He explained his idea, and they began to carry it out, locking in the coordinates for Belle Reve Penitentiary.

They were granted permission to interrogate Professor Ivo. Miss Martian started with, "Warden Strange owed us a favor for stopping last month's prison break. He's given us five minutes with you."

"Spill, Ivo," Conner commanded. "How do we find Tio Morrow and his Reds?"

"Now, why in the world would I know how to find Morrow?" he asked in return.

"Because," Wally spoke up. "And here's a truly dumb idea, you're Morrow's biggest competitor in the evil android game. Who better to keep track of what he's up to and where?"

"Ah, I see you're point," he commented. "So let me rephrase: Why in the world would I TELL you how to find Morrow?"

"He knows," Aqualad pointed out. "Do what you must."

M'Gann tried reading his mind, only for him to say, "Oh, please; as if I've never faced a telepath before."

Zatanna leaned close to his side and said, "Trulb tuo s'worrom laer noitacol." It was obviously a spell.

"Morrow's in a secret underground base beneath Yellowstone National Park, 100 meters south of Old Faithful," Ivo said quickly. "Wait, what just happened?" Everyone stared at him.

"Show off," Kitten mumbled. "We have our information. Let's go," she said, loud and clear this time. Everyone nodded and left for the bio-ship.

As they neared Yellowstone, Aqualad told M'Gann, "Block out all external communication. Soon, Canary and Zatara – Batman, too, I imagine – will know of our 'visit' with Professor Ivo. We haven't much time."

"Look, I'm trying to be all nonchalant, here," Robin started, but was interrupted by Zatanna.

"Why; be as chalant as you like," she said. He smiled back at her, obviously enjoying the play on words she just demonstrated, one of his own trademarks. Next to Artemis, Kitten started growling softly, only stopping when said blonde put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay," she whispered. She spoke again, louder and to Zatanna this time. "I think we're all just trying to get a handle on your powers. Could you teleport us to Tornado or Morrow to a cell or force his bots to surrender?"

"Or create peace on Earth for all time?" Zatanna continued sarcastically. "Zatara couldn't even do all that, and I'm nowhere NEAR on my dad's level. I need to know a spell cold or else have time to prep it. Plus, all magic requires energy, which usually has to come from within. I just can't make the impossible happen at will."

"I guess that makes two of us," Kitten said quietly, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Zatanna questioned.

"I've been TRYING to get you to stop FLIRTING with my boyfriend, but obviously, it's impossible to get THAT to happen."

"Kitten," Robin said. "We are not flirting."

"Yes, you are!"

"How are we flirting?"

"First, you were just oh, so eager to introduce yourself everyone else and even interrupted Megan. Next, you were tripping over your words practically begging her to join The Team and asking how she changed so quickly with your jaw flapping in the wind. After that, you were totally sure she wouldn't tell on us for searching for the Reds when you hardly know this girl! Lastly, you were just completely blown away with not only her magic, but her little play on words crap that we all know you love to do yourself, with one of your own examples being the word 'whelmed'. If you're not flirting with her – and you are – then you at least have a pretty big crush on her that we all can see." After her rant, she crossed her arms over her chest and turned away from them. Her cheeks were red from embarrassment, anger, and breathlessness.

"Megan, could you please link up me and Kitten?" Robin asked.

"Sure thing, Robin," Megan told him.

'_Kitten, Robin, you are now mentally linked. If you wish, I can listen in as a neutral third party, or leave you two to yourselves._'

'_Alone would be best, Megan, thanks._'

'_No problem, Robin; if you guys need, anything, let me know. For now, I'll talk to you guys later._' There was a slight popping noise in their minds, signaling that M'Gann was no longer listening.

'_Look, I don't wanna argue in front of everyone else,_' Robin pleaded.

'_Well, I do,_' Kitten shot back with a glare.

'_Can't we just wait until we get back to the Cave or something to finish this?_'

'_Why; are you afraid everyone else will side with me?_'

'_No, it's just…_' He trailed off, looking away.

'_It's just what, Robin? What is it?_' Kitten was losing her patience, and the fact that Robin wouldn't even look at her was an even bigger insult.

'_Never mind,_' Robin snapped at her, turning his head sharply to look at her with a snarl on lips. '_We'll finish this back at the Cave!_' Kitten flinched back in her seat at the angry look in his eyes.

"Megan, we're done," he said, not removing his intense, angry eyes from Kitten's hurt ones. At that, Kitten finally looked away, choosing to stare out the window with silent tears streaming down her face rather than looking at anyone else.

"What's our ETA to Yellowstone?" Conner asked. "I am way past ready to stuff Tornado into a trash compactor."

"Are you so certain he betrayed us?" Aqualad asked in return.

"Aren't you?"

"I am not convinced. And even so, that makes him but the victim of his creator's programming. Certainly, he deserves a chance to prove he's more than the weapon others designed him to be."

That certainly shut Conner up. When they got to Yellowstone, Aqualad ordered everyone to activate Stealth mode. He pressed his belt buckle, Wally and Artemis pressed the emblems on their chests, Megan mentally changed her clothes, and Kitten twisted her right cat ear.

"I recommend you stay behind," Aqualad told Zatanna.

"Is that an order?" she asked.

"No, you must do as you see fit."

"Good; emit ot yrt tuo a wen kool," she said as she raised her hands. Smoke rose up around her, and when it cleared, she was wearing a new outfit, which was similar to her father's costume.

The Team exited the bio-ship, and ran to find Red Tornado. Robin stopped near a tree and pulled up a holographic map. "Ivo was right," he said. "Something's down there." They ran a little farther before a strong wind started pushing them back and slowing them down. Everyone looked up to see Red Tornado causing the winds. He sent out more tornados, surrounding them with red swirling funnels.

"Why, Tornado? Why are you doing this?" M'Gann shouted at the robot. More tornados appeared, and M'Gann sent out a mental message.

'Message received?' she asked. Superboy nodded slightly.

"Who cares why? Nail him!" he shouted. He and Aqualad charged forward.

"Superboy, Maneuver 7!" Aqualad commanded. Superboy turned and linked his hands together, forming a foothold. Aqualad stepped up and was launched towards Red Tornado, only to be punched back into Superboy.

Artemis and Robin ran up as Kitten ran around behind the robot. Artemis shot two arrows up towards Red Tornado, but he blew them back at her and Robin. Kitten vaguely heard Robin shout, "Look out!" before the sound of two small explosions. That was when Kitten made her move.

She formed a grappling hook with her scaled disc and attached a few of her claws to the end to be able to pull it back by the chains. She threw the hook up at the robot, but he grabbed it before it hit. He grabbed the chains with his other hand and swung her over his head. As she was falling, she saw something behind the robot in the sand. "PLAY DEAD" was written in the ground. She landed with a thud and bounced a few times before finally stopping next to Robin and Artemis. She acted as if she was struggling to get up. She retracted her claws before flopping back down onto the ground to "play dead".

Her eyes closed, Kitten heard Wally say something about "spin doctors" and Megan shouting out followed by a few more thumps and thuds. She then heard Zatanna stuttering over a spell before she made a choking sound and another thud.

"Quite a performance, brother," said a new robotic voice. "But we both know that's all it was. I have all your memories, Tornado, plus a Next-Gen processor. I know your next move before you do." The jig was up. There was a rumbling sound as the teen heroes sat up from where they were on the ground. A new robot, standing on a column of rock, was lifting up a chunk of ground with the message Kitten had seen. "Blowing a message into the sand?" The robot's fists clenched and the chunk of rock exploded into smaller – but still very large – chunks of rock that were aimed at the kids.

Superboy and Aqualad leapt up from the ground and smashed some rocks in midair. Miss Martian used her telekinesis to propel a rock away from her. Kitten threw her disc – back in its disc shape – as a Frisbee at one of the rocks, breaking it. As she caught it, she saw another rock heading towards her, Robin, and Zatanna. She quickly tackled Zatanna out of the way, and Robin jumped to the other side. The rock crashed to the ground brining up a cloud of dust.

'_Zatanna? Kitten?_' Robin asked.

'_We're good,_' Kitten answered, a bit of annoyance in her voice.

'_Thank you, Kitten, for saving me,_' Zatanna said.

'_No problem, New Girl, but Red Tornado's getting away,_' Kitten replied.

'_Is he abandoning us?_' Artemis asked.

'_I don't believe that,_' Miss Martian said.

"You stand no chance against me, humans," the robot said, punching Wally to the ground after the speedster had ran up the side of the rock column.

Superboy and M'Gann tried attacking him next, jumping up and flying towards the robot, respectively. At the same time, they shouted, "We're not human!"

"Apologies," he said, raising two giant rock hands from the ground. "I suppose the properly inclusive term is" – he smashed the hands together, crushing Superboy and M'Gann with them – "meatbags."

He opened a chasm in the ground under Aqualad and Artemis, but they were able to get out before it closed back up. Robin jumped off of a rock protruding from the ground as he threw an explosive shuriken at the robot. He caught it with one hand and wasn't fazed when it exploded.

"Tornado's memory files and my superior processing speed allow me to anticipate your every move."

Zatanna let a spell fly off her lips and suddenly something surrounded the robot's eyes. "Tornado never knew my moves."

"And I bet you've got some good ones," Robin commented. 'Whoa, sorry, that may have come off a little too Wally."

"I don't mind."

"Less flirting, more fighting, please," Kitten yelled to them as she shot her claws at the robot's torso. They hit right in the middle of his chest, but bounced right off. He was made of something harder than steel. He shot lasers from his eyes, breaking whatever Zatanna blinded him with. As he did so, the mountain behind him erupted.

The robot shot lava rocks at Wally, who quickly dodged them. '_He's activating a Stage 2 eruption. It gets to Stage 3; kiss the hemisphere goodbye,_' he analyzed.

'_Hit him from all sides,_' Aqualad ordered. They did just that, but the robot managed to counter every attack. Suddenly, a column of water came up from behind Aqualad, pushing the robot into his own pool of lava.

"Nice hit," Robin commented.

"The hit was not mine; look," Aqualad said, pointing to a new robot. It was the water robot that had attacked them in the Cave. He rose up on a wave of water and blasted the volcano robot once more. (**AN: I'm going to call them by the names they have in the show now, Red Volcano, Red Torpedo, Red Inferno, and Red Tornado.**) Red Volcano rose out of the lava, trapped in a column of rock, which was soon destroyed by Red Tornado. Red Volcano fell back into the lava, and as he surfaced once more, he was hit by fireballs from Red Inferno.

"Sister, brothers, stop," Red Volcano shouted, but he was once more pushed under the lava. This time, Red Inferno and Red Torpedo held him under. Red Tornado flew down and helped keep his "brother" under by standing on his chest. Superboy grabbed him from the lava just as the volcano started rumbling again.

"Tornado, listen," Wally shouted to the robot, whose legs were half melted. "We're on the verge of a Stage 3 super volcano eruption. There's no turning back from that. We need to vent pressure fast. The ash cloud will bring on a worldwide nuclear winter unless YOU divert it!" Red Tornado nodded, and Wally turned to Robin. "Triangulate around the pressure locust." (**AN: I don't know if "locust" was what he said; I'm just playing it by ear.**)

Robin nodded and pulled up a holographic map of the mountain, where three red dots appeared. "There, there, and there," he said. Artemis shot three arrows, one at each spot. As the ash began to plume up from the top of the volcano, Red Tornado flew up and directed the huge cloud into space. He flew down as the lava running down the side of the mountain cooled.

"Yes!" Wally shouted, pumping his fist into the air. He turned around just as Tornado landed, and the teens all ran to help the robot, who collapsed upon landing.

Later, in Morrow's lab, Kitten, Robin, and Wally all worked to restore Red Tornado's ability to speak. "There, good as new," Kitten said when they finished.

"Yes, I can speak again," Red Tornado said as his face cover replaced itself. Aqualad stepped up.

"You were willing to sacrifice yourself to save the planet," he commented.

"The planet would have survived. It is humanity that was saved, though not by me. My sister and brother were the true heroes this day," Red Tornado corrected.

"My point is this." At this point, Kitten tuned out the conversation to help Robin and Wally, who had signaled her over to a pile of spare parts.

Wally held up a robotic hand. "Cool, souvenir," he said. Robin picked up a leg, and Kitten picked up a chest plate.

"Reddy," Robin said. "We can rebuild you; better than before!" Kitten nodded in agreement.

"I do not believe I should be repaired," Tornado replied.

"Why'd you volunteer to become our den mother in the first place?" Conner asked.

"I was the pragmatic choice. I do not require sleep; I have no secret identity or second life to live."

"But you do have advanced AI programming, designed to learn, adapt, evolve," Wally countered.

"Hello, Megan," Miss Martian said. "You wanted to become more human."

"And you couldn't do that with the League," Artemis continued. "They're stiffs!"

"You're sure not gonna learn emotion from Batman," Kitten said, Robin nodding in agreement. "Trust me."

"Then the Cave was not a probing ground only for us, but for you as well," Aqualad concluded.

"I do not know if these statements are accurate, but perhaps, they are true. And if I understand the term correctly, I believe I have come to…care…about you all," Red Tornado said.

"See? Practically a meatbag already," Conner pointed out.

"Which reminds me," Tornado stated. "I would like to see my creator, the human one. Maybe I could allow you to rebuild me, so I may do so." Kitten, Robin, and Wally looked among each other before nodding and heading to work. Following Tornado's directions very carefully, they were able to rebuild him in about three hours.

Back on the bio-ship, Robin and Kitten made sure to sit on opposite sides so as not to start yelling at each other again. Kitten saw Robin lean forward to Zatanna, who had sat in front of him, and ask something. Her face felt hot as she turned away and stared out the window for the rest of the ride home. She was completely dreading getting back to the Cave, knowing full well it meant having to talk to Robin about…well…about everything.

Eventually, though, the bio-ship did land, and as soon as Kitten placed one foot in the Cave, her arm was grabbed, and she was dragged away to a bed room. She could already feel her face paling and going hot at the same time, tear already gathering in the corners of her eyes at the thought of what was bound to come next. She pushed the feelings back and let anger take their place. He was the one who was flirting with someone else!

Finally, Robin stopped in front of a bedroom, and as the door opened, Kitten tore her arm away from Robin's grip and walked inside. She heard the door close, and she whipped around and almost instantly regretted it. Robin just stood there with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. Kitten jumped immediately to the problem.

"Okay, how is it MY fault that YOU were flirting with Zatanna?" she asked.

"I never said it was." How could he be so calm? Oh, that's right. He's Robin.

"Well, you sure were implying it that stare you're giving me!"

"So, what I'm hearing is that I can't talk to practically any other girl without it seeming like I'm flirting."

"I didn't say that. You talk to Megan, Artemis, Babs, and Bette all the time, but there's just something in your tone when you talk to Zatanna that makes it seem like you're flirting. I don't know if it's there on purpose or not, but then she flirts back, and that's when I KNOW that you're flirting. And that smile that you give her…Before, you only gave that smile to me…and I…I can't cope with it right now." Now, there were tears running down her face.

"I think you're just jealous that I'm not spending all my time talking to you and you alone."

"You know, maybe I am. But I think I have a right to be, considering I'm your girlfriend."

"Not anymore."

"What?"

"I said, 'Not anymore,' as in, you're not my girlfriend anymore. I'm breaking up with you." With that, he turned around and left, leaving her standing there to stare after him. She half expected him to jump out, yell, "Just kidding," and hold her in his arms, placing small kisses on the top of her head like he always does…or used to do.

Only when she heard "Recognized: Robin, B-03," did Kitten come back to reality, the reality where Robin had just broken up with her. Her own brother had just dumped her.

Twenty minutes later, she was still standing in the bedroom. Her tears were dry, but that didn't stop her from letting out a choked sob as she finally moved. She walked over to the bed, lie down, curl up, pull the covers over her body, and sob herself to sleep.

**There, Chapter 16 is done! I know it's sad at the end for Kitten/Robin lovers, but don't worry! Everything will lay into place. For now, read my other stories, or if there's a particular one-shot you want to see on FFN that isn't there already, leave me a review, and I'll try and find time to write it for you. Thank you guys so much for reading this. Don't forget to review. More reviews mean more ideas, which mean faster updates, which mean more reviews. I'm pretty behind on the episodes, but I DO have a 5-day weekend coming up, so I'll try to write the next chapter during then.**


	19. Solitude

**Thanks to those of you who reviewed the last chapter. This chapter is not episode 16, though. It is a filler chapter of Rachel/Olivia/Kitten outside of the episodes, still being all depressed about Richard/Robin breaking up with her.**

**Also, I lied. This chapter does go into a little bit of Robin's perspective, because a lot of people were like, "Why would he break up with her?" I am going to answer that question in his perspective.**

**Lastly, I'm introducing the first reader-submitted OC. Her name is Jasmine/Black Cat, and she was submitted by xXspoiiledheartXx.**

**I just want to mention this:**

"Blah" = talking

'_Blah_' = Group telepathy

_Blah_ = Single person's thoughts

Italics, quotes, and underlines used in speaking for titles and such are used because of the rules of writing.

**Enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I only own Rachel/Olivia/Kitten and her part of the plot.**

_This is so boring_, Olivia thought as she sat in English class. Usually, Shakespeare was her favorite topic, but today, after Dick had broken up with her, she couldn't care less.

"Now, Shakespearian themes are still used in today's media. Can anyone give me any examples?" the teacher asked. A few theories were disproven before Olivia tiredly raised her hand. "Yes, Miss Smith, what is your idea?"

"The _Lion King_ movies," she said as the rest of the class laughed. Leave it up to a 13-year-old to suggest kids' movies as examples of Shakespeare.

"Please explain," the teacher said in a serious tone. There was no joking allowed in his class.

"The first _Lion King_ movie is _Hamlet_, _Simba's Pride_ is _Romeo and Juliet_, and _Lion King 1 ½_ isn't technically Shakespeare, but a Hamlet spin-off called _Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead_," she told him.

"Again, please explain."

"In the first _Lion King_ movie, Simba is Prince Hamlet, and Scar, his uncle, kills Mufasa, Simba's dad, who is also the King of the Pridelands. Scar convinces Simba that it's HIS fault, so Simba runs away. After his adventures with Timon and Pumbaa, who take on the roles of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Simba returns to Pride Rock to confront his uncle. While he was away, Scar ruled the Pridelands and took on Simba's mom, Sarabi, as his wife. When Simba returns, he kills his uncle, but because it is Disney and because they already killed off two characters, they don't kill Simba, even though Hamlet died in his book.

"_Lion King II: Simba's Pride_ is about Simba's daughter, Kiara, falling in love with Kovu, a cub chosen by the group known as the Outlanders to follow in Scar's footsteps. Seeing as Simba and Scar were enemies, Simba automatically distrusts the Outlanders, which sets up the Capulet-Montague relationship. Timon, Pumba, and Rafiki act as their go-betweens and help the two cubs secretly meet, like Juliet and Romeo.

"_Lion King 1 ½_ is based off of _Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead_, which was a spin-off of _Hamlet_. This play was written as the story of _Hamlet_ told from the perspective of his two best friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. _Lion King 1 ½_ is _The Lion King_ told from the perspective of Timon and Pumbaa, who, in _The Lion King_, acted as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern." Everyone was staring at her in shock. At that moment, the bell rang, signaling the end of the period. This seemed to wake most of the other students from their daze as they gathered their things to head to their next class.

"Miss Smith, would you please stay behind for a moment?" the teacher asked. She sighed but complied with his wish. "Is everything okay? You seem very tired and bored, even when we're talking about what you have expressed as your favorite subject."

"I'm sorry, sir. I just haven't been getting a lot of sleep. Also, my boyfriend recently broke up with me."

"How about I give Mr. Wayne a call, and he can come pick you up?"

"What do you mean?"

"Miss Smith, I want you to take the rest of the day off. Go down to the nurse's office and wait for Bruce to pick you up."

"Sir, I can't just leave school at the beginning of the day!"

"It's obvious that you're not putting yourself fully into your work like you usually do. I don't want you to waste your talents and knowledge when you don't even have the heart right now to use them to their fullest. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you."

As Olivia started to walk away, he called to her, "Miss Smith." She turned back to him. "I loved your analogies." She smiled softly, nodded, and left.

Bruce came to get her, but made no move to try and talk to her about what was wrong. He knew that she or Dick would open up in time. All he knew was that, after The Team had found Red Tornado, Dick came home angry and fuming, and Rachel didn't come home at all.

When they reached the Manor, Bruce started to say something, but Rachel rushed past him without a word and ran to her room. She slammed the door behind her and sat against it, finally letting her tears fall.

Drying her tears, she quickly changed into some comfortable pajamas and got out an easel and her paints. She grabbed a pencil from her bag and mindlessly sketched out an image on a blank canvas. She set up the canvas on the easel and set to work. After a while, Bruce came to check on her, only to see her absorbed in a painting with nearly unnoticeable tears on her face. She didn't even notice him.

When she was done, she finally looked at her art for the first time. She saw a brown-haired girl sitting in a corner with her arms folded across her knees and her head buried in them. There was blood pooling around the girl, and there, a little bit away from the girl, was a heart on the ground, a human heart with blood leading to it from the puddle around the girl. The sight of the painting was enough to bring tears to Rachel's eyes. She sunk down to her knees and cried, eventually falling into a nightmare-filled sleep.

When Rachel awoke, it was dark outside. Someone had moved her easel and painting to the corner of her room and set her paints on her desk. She assumed it was Bruce. She checked her clock to see it was only about 9 o' clock. Deciding to not go to school tomorrow, she got up and changed into a training outfit and went down to the gym.

She practiced flips, jumps, and combat. She also ran a few laps around the gym before finally stopping to cool down. After practicing some more gymnastics tricks, she took a nice, long, calming shower before heading back to her room.

As she changed into her pajamas from earlier, she looked at her clock. It now read 12 o' clock in the morning, but Rachel just grabbed a book and started reading. It was five in the morning before she was done with the book, but she put it down and changed into a comfy pair of sweats and went down to get some food. The only other people awake would be Alfred and the handful of other servants around the Manor.

Rater than letting one of them cook something for her, Rachel cracked open a cookbook and managed to make a batch of pancakes. Just to keep herself busy, she multiplied the recipe by 4, leaving enough pancakes for almost everyone in the Manor. She grabbed 2 for herself and spread butter on them. Then she poured on syrup, added a sprinkle of powdered sugar, and topped it off with whipped cream and a strawberry.

Instead of eating the delicious-looking breakfast, Rachel simply stared at it, wondering how on Earth she could go from painting a gory, macabre scene of a heartbroken girl to creating something that looked so nice on a plate, it was almost impossible to destroy it by eating it. Shaking her head, she grabbed the plate, dumped its contents into the trash, and grabbed a banana to eat for breakfast.

When Bruce finally woke up, he saw Rachel wandering around the Manor. "What are you doing up?" he asked.

"I woke up early," she lied. "I'm still not feeling well. Can I stay home from school today?" He nodded and walked away.

_Oh my God, I am so tired_, Rachel thought. _Maybe if I'm tired enough, I won't have any dreams._ She went up to her room and flopped down on her bed, falling asleep before her head hit the pillow. Sadly, her wishes were not granted, as half an hour later, she bolted upright, sweating and gasping for breath. She pulled her knees to her chest and just sat there, crying until she fell asleep again. This time though, she wasn't even asleep, more like resting with her eyes open. She stayed like that the entire day until Dick came home from school.

She heard him close the front door and walk through the halls. She heard him stop outside her room and open the door, but not once did she look to see if it was really him. She just knew it was Dick that walked up to her desk and placed her homework on it, that it was Dick that came up to the side of her bed and gave her a kiss on the top of her head, Dick that forced her to relax and lay down on her bed as he pulled the covers up around her, and Dick that turned off her lights and closed her door silently. She just knew it was him.

**~*~ PoV switch ~*~ Dick's PoV ~*~ Lunch time earlier that day ~*~**

"Hey, where's Olivia?" Babs asked. I didn't want to have to tell them this way, but I might as well get it over with.

"Um, we, uh, broke up," I said. Then all hell broke loose.

There were shouts of "Why," "You're an idiot," and "What the hell were you thinking?" My personal favorite was "But you were, like, perfect together."

"We broke up because we had a fight." I looked around real quick to see if Artemis was here to hear this, but she wasn't. "There was a new girl that decided to sit in on one of our club's meetings. I start talking to her, and instantly, Olivia accuses me of flirting with her. She was getting jealous for no reason. And then she freaked out on me because I simply denied flirting with this new girl. So, we ended, or, namely, I ended it."

"Ugh, Dick, you are in idiot. Don't you remember what Olivia's been through in her life? Do you really think she needs ANOTHER person leaving her, especially another person that she holds close to her heart?" Babs had a point. "I mean, the girl already lost both parents, like you, so you should at least be able to understand her in some ways."

Olivia had told all of them about her past, but she left out the part about being Kitten, and she told everyone on a day that Artemis wasn't sitting with them. She had found a good group of friends on the other side of the cafeteria.

Artemis had grown apart from all of us, but we all understood. She had come into this school not knowing anyone, so as she made more new friends, she was bound to leave her old ones behind at some point.

"Besides, you two were totally cute together," Bette argued. Oh, that's right, they were yelling at me.

"Yeah, why'd you guys break up after ONE fight?" Babs asked.

"It wasn't just –" I stopped because Babs was giving me this…look.

"Dick, don't you dare tell me, 'it wasn't just one fight.'"

"Fine, you're right. I guess I just got angry at her because she called me out in front of the entire club. What should I do?"

"Just talk to her, Dick," Babs said. Bette, who was sitting beside me, gave me a soft smile, a nod, and a pat on the back. I smiled back and nodded as I thought about how to talk to Rachel.

**~*~ PoV Switch ~*~ Third Person, focused on Rachel ~*~ That Night ~*~**

_Yay, patrolling with Batman…and Robin_, Rachel thought as she pulled on her Kitten costume. As soon as she was ready, she went down to the Batcave to get ready to leave. She put in her Comms earpiece and grabbed her weapons. Batman and Robin soon arrived and did the same. Batman got into the Batmobile and Robin and Kitten each got on their respective motorcycles.

They sped out of the cave and into the streets of Gotham. They all split up and tested the Comms units. After each unit was properly checked, they left to do their own things. Kitten ditched her bike after her first villain and took to the rooftops. Soon, she got a call on her Comms.

"Robin, Kitten, I need backup on this," Batman said. "I'm sending my location now."

"Received," she said and ran over as quickly as possible. There was a bank on fire and people in it. She saw Batman getting people out as Robin helped to put it out. She stopped. This wasn't an unplanned fire. Setting her jaw, she ran down the scene as Robin started telling her to help him.

She ignored him and ran into the burning building, passing Batman on the way. "Kitten, go help Robin!" he ordered.

"I will in a minute," she told him.

"No, now," he said, but she ignored him and kept running through the building. Batman tried to reach out and grab her, but a support beam fell in his way. He gave up and went back to getting people out.

Kitten ran to find the vault and quickly opened it using her gloves. Inside, she found what she was looking for. "Catwoman," she said. "You started this."

"Very good, my little Kitten," she said. "But you're too late. The bank is burning, and I almost have what I need."

"Batman, Robin, come in," Kitten said into her Comms unit.

"Kitten, what is it?" Batman growled.

"It's Catwoman; she started the fire to distract us so she could rob the bank."

"We're on our way to the vault. Keep Catwoman occupied, but do not attack."

"Roger that." She turned to Catwoman. "So, no accomplice this time?"

"I used to have one, but she ran away," Catwoman said. Something in her tone told Kitten that she was lying.

"Why is that?"

"I have no idea. Why don't you ask yourself?" They finally got around to the fact that this accomplice used to be Kitten.

"I ran away because I was tired of doing the wrong thing. You've gotten caught once before; you'll get caught again."

"Oh, I have no intention of getting caught this time."

"Ha, 'intention of getting caught,' as if you had any the first time."

"The funny thing…about intentions…is that you never know a person's TRUE intentions until they betray you. And I'm not just talking about you and me here, little Kit. How are you with that little birdbrain of yours?"

"That's enough, Catwoman," Batman said from behind her.

"Oh shoot; I didn't get what I wanted," she said, looking slightly pouty like a child. "Oh well; maybe next time. Toodaloo!" With that, she jumped out of a broken window and ran off into the night.

"Batman, you go after her. Robin and I will stay here and help the firemen," Kitten said. Batman nodded and disappeared to go after Catwoman.

"We're not really helping the firemen, are we?" Robin asked.

"No, we're not. Quick, hide in the shadows." She pushed him towards a dark area and they concealed themselves just as someone came in. It was a girl with long dark brown hair, and she looked to be about 16. She wore a black corset and black pants with black knee-high boots. She had a black mask that covered her eyes, but Kitten still knew who it was. At the moment, she was wearing heat-proof gloves and her whip was coiled around a loop on the side of her pants.

Kitten stepped out of the shadows after giving Robin a look to stay put. The newcomer saw her immediately. "Well, well, well, if it isn't my favorite little traitor," she spat.

"Black Cat," Kitten said.

"And she even bothered to remember my name. It was so very sweet of you to do that, sister dear." Her voice absolutely dripped in sarcasm. "So, how are things with you? How does it feel to play second fiddle to Birdbrain, over there? Yeah, I see him. Come on out; don't be shy."

"This is between you and me."

"Is it now?" Kitten nodded. "Well, since I know you're not going to try anything on your own SISTER, I'll just take what Catwoman needs and get out of your hair."

"You're not going anywhere." And with that, Kitten pounced.

She tackled Black Cat to the ground and they wrestled until Black Cat came out on top. Kitten brought her legs up and kicked Black Cat off of her, sending her flying back into a column. Black Cat brought out her whip and Kitten formed a bo-staff with her disc. Black Cat cracked her whip and whipped at Kitten, but it wrapped around her bo-staff. Kitten pulled on the bo-staff, which pulled the whip, which brought Black Cat closer to her.

The fire still burned around them and it was getting hotter by the second. Kitten ignored it and turned Black Cat around. With a few well placed touches, Black Cat was on the ground and unconscious. Robin lifted the unconscious girl over his shoulders and the two heroes tried to find a way out. Once they were out, kitten took Black Cat's whip and used it to bind the villainess's wrists behind her back. They left her leaning against the side of the fire truck for them to deal with when the fire was out.

With a nod to each other, they split up to finish patrol duty. Robin hopped on his motorcycle and Kitted took to the rooftops again to find her own.

Rachel once again slept alone that night, and her nightmares were as bad as ever. In her dream, there was fire all around her as her 7-year-old self tried to find a way out of the burning building, only to eventually be consumed by the flames as present-day Rachel woke up. Like in every nightmare, the soundtrack was the Joker, laughing away at her pain. "I need Dick back," she said, curling in on herself to try and fall back asleep. Instead, she just lay there, half asleep, until the sun came up and it was time to get up.

**And there is a new chapter! I hope the section in Dick's point of view helped to explain a little bit as to why he broke up with her. Also, I am going to be rewriting the first couple of chapters so she's less Mary-Sue-ish. Looking back, she really is pretty Mary-Sue-ish, so I'm definitely changing that.**

**I'm doing one shot requests, and I'm still accepting OCs. I just used the first reader-submitted one in this chapter, but that doesn't mean I won't accept more.**

**Thank you guys so much for reviewing and even just reading this when there are a lot more, better fanfictions out there. You guys are just amazing.**

**I'm so excited to write the next couple of chapters. Rachel and Dick will be back together soon, I promise.**

**I wanna talk about the newest episodes real quick. I don't want to change too much of the episode Performance (newest one) by adding another Daring Danger and changing their act, so I was thinking of having her not go on the mission at first but eventually come to the circus as a person that uses the silks. For those that don't know, the silks are two long strips of fabric that hang from the ceiling and performers use them for acrobatic tricks. Watch some videos of silks performers, and let me know what you guys think.**


	20. Failsafe

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Your comments are greatly appreciated. I introduce to you…Episode 16, Failsafe! I have some kind of idea as to what I'll be doing for Performance, but that's not for a while.**

**I love what they're doing for the new season, though. It's so awesome!**

**For Performance (a.k.a. Episode 24), Kitten will come into the circus later as an aerial silks performer. Just so you know what moves I'm referencing, I will only use the names of moves that I, myself, have found on YouTube. I'm going to write it so that she uses white aerial silks and so that her stage name is Black Widow. I already drew a costume for her and have posted it on my deviantART account, Monkeygal321.**

**Also, I'm changing Kitten's Arctic camouflage. Check out deviantART to see the changes.**

**Expect some drama towards the end of the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice!**

**Enjoy the story, my loyal subjects!**

The Team and Red Tornado stood still as they watched a handful of members of the Justice League try and fail to stop the approaching alien invasion. Zatara's face came up on another screen. "Tornado, did you –?"

"Yes, Zatara, we saw. Celestial defenses have failed. Initiate all terrestrial measures."

"Affirmative; see you in the field," he said before disappearing from the screen.

Red Tornado turned to The Team. "I must join the League. We will protect the planet at all costs. Should we fail, the responsibility falls to you."

"We stand ready," Aqualad replied. After Tornado left, Robin brought up the GBS News on the holographic screen, where they were forced to see all remaining members of the League disappear. "We are Earth's heroes, now."

"So what are we waiting for, a theme song?" Conner asked.

"A strategy," Aqualad answered. "Earth's weapons are ineffective, and it has been made clear a direct attack will not succeed."

"Checking satellite imagery," Robin said, pulling up a holographic globe. "Here's where the aliens are now."

"This one get lost?" Conner asked, pointing to one that had gone up into the Arctic Circle.

"That's Superman's Fortress of Solitude," Kitten said.

"Superman has a Fortress of Solitude?"

"I just said that."

"Its power source must have attracted the aliens' attention; at least enough to send a scout ship to investigate," Robin concluded.

Conner started to walk away, mumbling to himself, but M'Gann stopped him.

"We will target this lone ship," Aqualad stated.

"Yeah," Wally agreed. "Break it down. Build more. Hit those ugly aliens with their own mojo." Artemis hit him in the side.

"Martian and Kryptonian in the house," she mumbled.

"Uh…ha-ha…not that all aliens are automatically ugly," he said to cover up his mistake.

"Smooth, Wally," Kitten mocked. "Well, what're we waiting for? Let's go." The Team headed for the bio-ship. As M'Gann steered the ship to Superman's Fortress, everyone changed into the new Arctic Stealth-Tech that the League designed. Most of the outfits were the same, just being a color change to white and gray and a style change to incorporate long sleeves or pants. Kitten, Robin, and Artemis all had hoods and fur-lining, though, on some part of their costumes.

When they got to the Fortress of Solitude, The Team immediately spotted the alien ship. They formed a plan and got into their positions for their attack. M'Gann physically linked everyone together and disabled the communications and repulsion of the enemy ship. Artemis trapped whatever aliens were inside. Soon, everyone else was on the roof of the ship, disconnecting their laser to attach it to the bio-ship. As Conner was ripping the laser from the roof, he was suddenly pushed out of the way by Wolf, who then disappeared in a flash of light, just like the rest of the Justice League.

'_Wolf,_' M'Gann said.

'_There was no indication of feedback; I'm sorry,_' Robin added.

'_Can't do anything for him now,_' Superboy said before jumping back onto the ship to finish his job. Kitten gave him a sad look and a comforting hand on his shoulder and was met with a small nod. He ripped the laser from the alien ship as M'Gann called the bio-ship. '_Let's go._'

M'Gann began her work. '_Rerouting systems to integrate new weapon into ship's bio-matrix; I'll need to de-camouflage for a few minutes,_' she explained.

'_We may not have a few minutes; we've got company,_' Kitten thought. Two new alien ships were coming towards them.

'_Miss Martian, open fire,_' Kaldur ordered.

'_Can't; weapon systems are offline to incorporate the new cannon, and that's not fully integrated yet, either._'

'_Gotcha covered; get inside,_' Artemis shouted, firing arrows at the enemy ships. '_I'm almost there!_' The ships crashed. One was completely destroyed, but the other began charging up its weapon. M'Gann turned towards Artemis with panic all over her face.

'_Artemis, behind you,_' she warned. Artemis turned to fire an arrow at the ship, but it was too late. The laser fired its beam, and Artemis was gone.

"Artemis!" M'Gann shouted into the empty tundra, Wally following suit.

"Get inside, all of you," Aqualad ordered, using his water-bearers to destroy the remaining ship. No one followed his command.

"Their dead, every single last alien, if it's the last thing I do," Wally spat.

Once they had taken off, M'Gann began crying, and Wally was pounding the console in front of him, making grunts of frustration. Kaldur, Superboy, and Robin all kept their calm. Kitten tried to but ended up simply pulling her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them, and burying her head in her arms.

Kitten heard light footsteps coming towards her and felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Robin standing there with a concerned expression. She gave him a nod and a sad smile, and he nodded back and returned to his seat.

"There will be time to mourn later," Aqualad said, standing up. "Now, we have a job to do: defend the Earth and ensure Artemis's sacrifice was not in vain."

"Back to the Cave?" Miss Martian asked.

"The Hall of Justice," Aqualad answered. "The human race must know that there are still heroes defending them. There is still hope."

Soon, they were in Washington, D.C., and taking down three more alien ships. The military saw Superboy and instantly thought he was Superman, so there was a bit of confusion there. Aqualad introduced the group as part of the Justice League, and a plan was made.

"We'll help you salvage as many of the aliens' cannons as possible. Then we start taking back what is ours." Those were his exact words.

When they got to the Hall of Justice, everyone stopped and looked at the broken statues. "They're really gone," Robin said.

Kitten walked over to the head of Batman's statue. She put a hand against it and lowered her head, letting out a few silent tears. Robin came up behind her and pulled her into a tight hug, sharing her feelings and wanting to make everything okay for her.

Miss Martian flew over to the head of Martian Manhunter's statue and shed a few of her own before flying back up and levitating the statue out of the way to reveal the real Martian Manhunter. "Uncle J'onn," she cried, flying towards him, but Aqualad stopped her.

'_M'Gann, check his mind,_' Aqualad said. '_Make sure he is whom he appears to be._'

'_It's him, he's real, and he's alive!_' she excitedly responded.

"But we saw you get disintegrated, you and Superman…and everyone," Conner argued.

"Yes, I remember," he said as M'Gann helped him up. "But I cannot remember how I survived…or how I arrived here."

"Maybe you were density shifting and the beam passed right through you," M'Gann suggested.

"Scrambling your brains along the way," Robin added.

"My mind is clouded," Martian Manhunter confirmed. "I feel certain I had something important to tell you."

'Hello, Wally,' Wally said, hitting himself on the forehead. Robin and Kitten turned towards him, as they were the closest to him. 'Come on.' The 13-year-olds followed him over to the bio-ship, where Wally told them to scan the new laser cannon. '_I knew it! Look; it's giving off Zeta beams, the same stuff that powers our Zeta tubes! This thing doesn't disintegrate. It teleports! Artemis is alive!_'

'_Maybe,_' Robin started, but Wally cut him off.

'_No "maybe," they're all alive!_'

More alien ships arrived, and the three teens jumped down behind a military jeep for cover. '_We're on our way,_' Aqualad said.

'_Negative; we can't win this,_' Kitten replied.

'_Miss Martian, camo the bio-ship,_' Robin said. It was too late, though. An enemy laser hit the ship, and it was gone. '_We're falling back!_'

They ran back to the Hall, military men in tow. The general saw the enclosed space and said, "We're trapped." Suddenly, a doorway opened automatically.

"Maybe not," Aqualad said. They ran through, as Aqualad laid out a plan to have everyone Zeta to the Cave. Kitten was one of the first to go through, on Robin's insistence. She waited with Miss Martian, who was the first to go through, for everyone to come back. Martian Manhunter was the last to come; Aqualad never did. Almost immediately, they laid out a plan.

"Our next mission is clear," Robin started. "If we believe that the aliens have been teleporting their victims –"

"We do," Wally cut in.

"Then the only reasonable detention facility would be here," Robin continued, bringing up a picture of the mother-ship.

"Their mother-ship, atop what used to be Smallville," Kitten confirmed.

"Ring any bells?" Robin asked Martian Manhunter.

"No, I'm sorry," he replied.

"Superboy, you'll create a distraction," Robin ordered, forming a plan.

"No," M'Gann said. She turned to Conner. "He's offering you as a sacrifice. Aqualad would never do that!"

"You're right," Robin said. "Aqualad would sacrifice himself –"

"Which he did," Kitten cut in. "Now, he's gone, and we don't have a leader anymore. Superboy is the most likely to be seen as a threat, prompting the aliens to deploy. Worst case scenario: he's teleported inside with the others. Robin, continue."

"Thank you, Kitten," he said and continued on with the rest of his plan. When he was done, they set up live video feeds to every phone, computer, laptop, etc. possible. The camera angles switched between pairs or single shots of each member.

"People of Earth," Kitten started. "As you can tell, we are in the midst of an alien invasion, but please, do not panic."

"We will continue fighting as your heroes until we have won or die trying," Robin said.

"Find shelter, and stock up on food and water. This war may take days, weeks, or even months. These will be difficult times, we are sure, but we will make it through," Kitten continued.

Directions were given in the video to stay safe and other hopeful messages.

"And though we know all seems lost," M'Gann said, "the one thing the aliens cannot destroy is hope."

"Hope survives because the battle is not over, not as long as even one of us is willing to fight," Conner assured.

"It doesn't matter how many fall, for new heroes will always rise to carry on, bringing all their resources, their skills, their talents to bear to defeat the enemy," Wally added.

"The people of Earth WILL survive this," Robin said.

"We will rebuild, and we will thrive," Kitten explained.

"Never doubt, and never forget: The Earth will NEVER surrender!" Robin continued.

Later, the remnants of the Justice League and The Team were standing outside the alien mother-ship. Robin stood atop a rock, holding a pair of binoculars to his eyes. M'Gann stepped up beside him. "Stay close to J'onn. He's still…" He trailed off, using a little hand motion to explain his point. He turned to the others. "First team, deploy."

Miss Martian and Martian Manhunter flew towards the fortress, camouflaging themselves along the way. '_Ready, and in position,_' Miss Martian communicated. '_Be careful, Conner. I love you._'

Robin nodded to him, and he jumped onto the mother-ship, using one of their own cannons to attack it. When the alien ships came out, Conner gave Wally, Robin, and Kitten the signal. Wally grabbed onto both Kitten and Robin and ran, jumping off the cliff at the last moment. In flight, Kitten unlatched herself from Robin's back, allowing all of them to land on the fortress and hide before the ships passed them.

'_Way is clear!_' Robin said. '_Go!_' The three of them ran along a hallway, stopping to hide and to meet up with the Martians. After a while, M'Gann stopped.

'_No; he's gone,_' she said. Wally and Kitten ran back to help her, as she collapsed to her knees.

'_It's alright,_' Wally said. '_We'll find him with Artemis. I know it._'

'_No,_' Martian Manhunter said. '_My mind is clearer now. The disintegration beam is exactly that. There is no detention facility, no prisoners to rescue. Our mission holds no purpose._' By that point, Wally was standing up.

'_No, you're wrong,_' Wally said, desperate now.

'_No, he's not,_' Kitten spoke up. She was still kneeling by M'Gann.

'_The Zeta radiation proves she's alive,_' Wally continued.

Robin grabbed him and spun him around. '_Stop it, KF,_' he said. '_I've been scanning for League and Team signals since we got inside. They're not here. Artemis is gone. But our mission still holds purpose: to destroy this mother-ship._'

Kitten helped M'Gann up, and they all started walking again. They made it to the power core, as told by Robin's analysis. They made it to the surface of the core, where Robin and Kitten laid down strips of explosives, setting them to explode in four minutes.

They made it out into another hallway, but the doorway closed, sealing them in. '_Perfect,_' Wally said. They turned to find alien bots ready to blast them. At the last possible moment, Kitten and Robin jumped out of the way as Wally did the same with Miss Martian and Martian Manhunter. They were on opposite sides of the hallway.

'_Sixteen seconds and counting,_' Robin reported. '_Manhunter, take Miss Martian and go._'

'_No, we won't leave you,_' M'Gann protested, but was quickly interrupted by Robin.

'_That's an order. We'll follow as soon as we blow those doors,_' he assured. They disappeared.

'_We're not blowing those doors, are we?_' Kitten asked. She looked at Robin's countdown; ten seconds. At seven seconds, he shook his head. At four, he and Wally started to go out to try and beat the aliens and get out. But at three seconds left, Kitten grabbed Robin and pulled him towards her to kiss him for the last three seconds of her life. When the bombs went off, there was a flash of heat before everything went black in Kitten's eyes, mind, and heart.

Suddenly, Kitten's eyes flew open. She was lying on a metal table in the Cave. She was alive. She looked over to her right to see…Robin. The next minute, she was holding her head and groaning in pain from a massive headache. She saw Batman rush over in between her and Robin's tables to make sure they were okay.

Kitten began to block out everything else, trying to remember what had happened. All she could remember was Robin, kissing him, and a blinding flash of heat, then, darkness, nothingness. She rolled over onto her right side and propped herself with her elbow, holding the other hand to her head again.

She heard voices murmuring around her, blurry visions and color surrounding her. She saw one clear image: a hand. Someone was holding their hand out in front of her. She followed the arm up to see Robin, standing, offering her help. She took his hand, and he helped her stand. Once she was sure she could stand on her own, she let go of his hand and looked up at him. At the same time, without a single word, they wrapped their arms around each other in a hug, Kitten burying her face in Robin's shoulder, him burying his in her hair.

"You're all alive!" At that, they broke apart. Batman had gone over to help Martian Manhunter. Robin sat back down and pulled Kitten with him. She leaned against him, putting her head on his shoulder.

"What happened in there?" Batman asked Martian Manhunter.

"The exercise, it all went wrong."

"Exercise," Robin repeated.

"Try to remember," Batman said. "What you experienced was a training exercise. Manhunter physically linked the seven of you within an artificial reality. You all knew this going in. What you didn't know was that it was a train-for-failure exercise. No matter what The Team accomplished, the scenario was designed to grow worse. Still, you were aware nothing was real, including the deaths of the entire Justice League."

"That is why you hardly grieved, even when Wolf was disintegrated before your eyes," Manhunter explained. "But all that changed when Artemis died." At that, Wally's expression softened to one of concern for Artemis. "Though consciously Miss Martian knew it was not real, her subconscious mind could not make that distinction. She forgot it was only an exercise, and her subconscious took control, making all of you forget, too." Everyone looked at M'Gann, who had an expression of absolute shock and horror across her face.

"Uh – I – I'm…I'm so sorry," she said.

"This isn't her fault," Superboy protested loudly. "Why didn't you stop the exercise?"

"We tried, but M'Gann had…a death grip on the scenario," Martian Manhunter explained further. "Even Artemis, who should have awakened upon her death, was so convinced she had passed, she slipped into a coma. I realized I would have to wrest control from Miss Martian's subconscious from within. But upon entering the reality, I was overwhelmed by your collective emotion. There was too much…noise…to think clearly, to remember why I was there. The deaths of Aqualad and Superboy helped, but only when the mother-ship exploded and Robin, Kitten, and Kid Flash were silenced did my mind clear enough to remember my true purpose: to shock M'Gann out of the exercise…before your comas became permanent. My apologies; I had no idea training exercises could be so dangerous, so damaging." Everyone followed his line of sight to a crying Miss Martian being comforted by Captain Marvel. No one paid attention to Red Tornado, Batman, and Martian Manhunter as they discussed something else.

Kitten turned to face Robin to find him staring at her. In the next moment, she was sitting sideways on his lap with his arms around her. Her head fell onto his shoulder as she began to cry again. There was so much pent up emotion; it was all she could do. She was dealing with shock, relief, happiness, sadness, anger, concern, and a truckload more of other emotions.

She felt a finger underneath her chin, pulling her head away from Robin's shoulder. Her eyes were still closed, tears still trickling down her face. Someone kissed her. It had to have been Robin. She opened her eyes and, through her sunglasses, saw Robin's face, inches from hers and full of concern. Kitten gave him the tiniest of nods. She was okay, or, rather, she would be. He gave her one more kiss, which was readily returned.

This was right where she should be, she realized. In his arms.

**UGH! I hate that ending, really, but that was all I could come up with! I'm sorry it took so long, but I was grounded for most of May. I still am a bit.**

**The reason my parents lifted the punishment a bit is because I fell four feet and hit my head on solid concrete. I ended up having to go to the ER, just so they could make sure I didn't have a concussion. I was totally fine, no concussion or anything. I just got a nasty bump on my head. My biggest worry, though, was that I would have to wear a neck brace to my school's dance and to my Girl Scout bridging ceremony.**

**Did I mention I fell over the side of an inflatable game? Leave it to me to nearly get a concussion from a bounce house.**

**Usually, it's my brother that gets hurt. But he's moved out, now, so…everyone was making jokes that now that he's gone, I've been trying to fill the void. My parents commented that I was making a lot of good jokes after my fall. They were like, "We should've dropped her on her head sooner!" It's also my brother who usually makes the jokes in our house, but now that he's gone…**

**What did you guys think of the chapter? I only have three and a half days of school left, but my summer is also very swamped. I'm going to a day camp three days a week, I'm planning on getting a summer job, I have a summer reading assignment I need to do, and I'm going on a cruise at the end of the summer.**


	21. Author's Note 2

I'm really sorry guys. This isn't a new chapter. I just needed to explain my absence.

I'm officially putting this story on hiatus.

I really want to rewrite the first couple chapters, so that's gonna take a lot of time. Also, I'm trying to work on my other fanfics as well.

In the meantime, check those out. I won't be updating Kitten's Claws until I have the first couple chapters and maybe the next few written.

Once again, I'm very sorry. Thanks to you all so much for sticking with me this far. I would be nowhere without you guys.

I'll try and get the chapters written ASAP. However, that could take some time. I have a crapload of summer reading to do, I'm going on a week-long cruise in August, and I'm starting high school in the fall. I also have to go to a summer camp three days a week, but I'll try to use the other four days to write for you guys.

Not to mention that I have so many other fanfic ideas in my head right now. Keep an eye out for those.

I love you all. Thanks for being understanding.


	22. Author's Note 3 - It's been a while

Hey, guys, me again. Still not an update.

But don't worry, the story is alive and being rewritten. I know, it's been over two years since I updated, and almost three since I actually started this thing.

But I'm in high school. I'm going into my junior year, and I've been working on the story as much as possible, but it's not making quick progress, I'm afraid. I've been so busy with schoolwork for the past two years, and that's why I haven't updated sooner.

But it's coming, I promise. I will update this, and I will finish it. I'm trying.

This is just to let you guys know what's going on, and also to thank you guys for all the love and support that this story has received.

I love you all so much, thank you for sticking with this story for as long as you have, and I hope to see even more of you for when I rewrite this sucker.

Thank you guys. Hope to see you soon.


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